Quasi's page

In the Pathfinder ed. 1 rulebook, in the wizard section it says cantrips can be used and are not "expended" so this means they can be used again. However in the wizard's daily spell table, it shows them as being in the same category as higher level spells, ie. limited no. of times used and expended. I've checked this against other spellcasters' daily spell lists such as sorcerers, and they have no column for daily cantrip allowances, and therefore their cantrips are re-usable. We have been playing unlimited cantrip re-use by wizards but today someone challenged that interpretation. The wizard's spell use section description does seem to contradict the daily spell allowance table. Which is correct?

We use the Ed. 3 Spell Compendium as well as Paizo sources and have been at loggerheads over the Ring of Blades spell, which creates a whirling circle of blades around the caster at a 5 foot distance. Presumably the circle of blades has a minimum width -say 1 foot. If the caster is backed against a wall or similar obstacle, will the spell work or fail? If it works, how do the blades avoid the wall? Do they bounce off it and possibly hit the caster, or rise over the caster and down the other side to continue the circle?

Thanks for the replies; as far as base speed is concerned, we're mostly concerned with combat-related and situations and those where you have to move quickly. Most of your answers agree with what we've assumed as the base speed and have clarified areas arising from that.

While trying to set up a grid for players to display their speed under different loads etc and wanting to show what Walk, Hustle, Run and so on actually mean in relation to “Base Speed”, we have come across information in three areas in the Core Rulebook that is contradictory and leaves us completely confused. It really boils down to Base Speed’s definition, which is not actually clearly defined.
For example, a base speed of 30': is that walking, hustling or running?
The information on tactical movement speed in 3 areas is contradictory.
If a BASE speed is 30’, according to the “Speed” entry, you can move that distance and have an action.
According to “table 7-6” for a base movement of 30’ this is a Walk (and Hustle is double that which corresponds with a double movement).
According to “Movement” having an action and also moving is defined as a Hustle, which contradicts the above line 1.
So what exactly IS base speed? A walk, hustle or run?

I have had depression (thankfully, minor but that was bad enough) most of my life, and last year I discovered TMS -(Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) which subjects the left forebrain to measured magnetic impulses as a treatment for most types of depression. It's a recognised for of treatment. It worked for me. From the first treatment I felt great; everything seemed clearer, brighter and more vivid. I'm not taking antidepressants any more so I can really recommend the treatment. It works for most people, but everyone's reaction is different. Some get immediate benefits as I did, some take a little longer. There are a few -about 23%, who don't seem to get a benefit from it. It's worth trying.
I also found D&D to be a good way of coping with things, for many years, so I can appreciate what you're saying about it.

If you're playing exactly by the rules, you go by what the rules/ descriptors say. If you vary the rules to suit your own games, as our group does, we go by common sense. Eg; why is summoning a demon evil if you use it for a good purpose?- because bringing a powerful evil creature into a world where it does not belong and where it has the power to create a lot of damage to good (or otherwise) inhabitants, actually is an evil act, or causes evil to be done even if it's not intended to be.
For example, if the spell "Vampiric touch" had an evil descriptor (I'm not sure) you'd have to ask yourself why. After all, it simply does physical damage to an opponent the same as a backstab with a dagger, or damage from a fireball. You'd have to work out why it is described as evil and then make your own rules as to its use. The same applies to use of poison by someone who could be expected to use it -eg. a rogue; why would it be evil if it only affects the opponent you're fighting?- and who presumably, is trying to kill you too....

I'm not making any assumptions, just speaking from observation. And, I did say 'young women' and also mentioned that we are 'mature' aged players. The difference in attitudes is often quite marked, going by age. Of course here in Oz, things are similar but a bit different to the US socially, so attitudes to RPG may be quite different in that age group here too.

I used that ring one in a module I was running (20 years ago, more or less) and I think it's time for someone to find that ring again....
(fiendish cackle follows..)

I've been playing for a long time and we've always had at least two women in our group. At present our group of 7 has 4 female players. Of course, we're mature-age and have been at this for a long time and I can see how young women might not find RPG very exciting.

I have been playing D&D for 32 years and the preferred world for me and my group of friends is Forgotten Realms. I use Pathfinder modules by adapting them to fit into the world and pantheon we like. We use only what "add-ons" we think fit in with our games, we don't buy every new product that comes out. This is the only way to play; find your comfort zone and use only the products that you can make fit into it. We use a lot of the non-core products from companies like Raging Swan, Super Genius and Rite Publishing, as this gives us all the variety we need, as well as inventing out own magic items and some (but not many) spells.
It's fun going back over old D&D and AD&D modules and monsters and converting them to Pathfinder's rules, and it works for us. We have lots of game materiel there, especially when some of our newer members haven't played games that we ran ages ago, so we can run them again with a few changes. We also write our own modules from time to time.
We looked at the Pathfinder Society games and didn't care for the background scenario but played a couple by adapting them;(our characters were hired "mercenaries" for the Society (who could go where Society members might be recognised) rather than members of the Society) and it worked very well.
You just have to be flexible (and inventive): that's the whole aim of the game system. Make it fit your needs.

As for encountered enemies not having much treasure because they logically wouldn't, what about CHANCE? The bandits who don't have much coin could have recently found a half-buried leather satchel containing a spellbook, or a bag of gems. The really dumb orc they just defeated has an amulet in his pocket; he got it off a victim and has no idea of what it is, but it's "pretty". The bandits might have found somthing really valuable in the caves they use as a hideout.... and so on..

Making up a list of loot for any encounter is commonsense. If the enemy is well-to-do, you can roughly estimate what kind of stuff he'd be likely to have on his person or in his lair. If it's a creature rather than a person, think of what type of victims it's likely to have accumulated goods from and select items accordingly. Just remember -farmers and townsfolk don't have bags of gold, maybe just a couple of pieces, some silver and lots of copper. Also, magic items in an intelligent enemy's loot would probably include items which are appropriate for that person/enemy, but maybe they would also be good for the PCs; if not, they can be sold. Just make sure the magic level is not too high for the PC levels. It also depends on how fast you want your players to accumulate wealth or obtain magic items.
besides that, I usually get my low-level players to make up "wish lists" of things they want and their cost, so they can calculate how much they still need, to be able to buy those items.

Our group (playing 30+ years) has a long-time player who doesn't own any of the books, but understands the rules for the most common characters and can be a really good player when he applies himself, but his style of play for EVERY character type is the same: Stupid, Cowardly, Offhand, Hungry Hobbit. However, he is a good enough player to put up with his foibles. He really only comes to "hang out" (as a couple of other people have mentioned here).
But for the character who is the subject of this chain of suggestions, I'd say: kill his character (in a way that doesn't seem to be vindictive or specifically targeted at him) and then suggest that he play a sorcerer, which is probaly the simplest spellcaster type. (Which you might just coincidentally have one ready to use! -Maybe one of your "own" new characters which you're prepared to let him take over..) Then, if you have the player handbooks in PDF you can copy and paste his spells into a Word document and print them out for him so he will always have them handy. (The PDFs are well worth obtaining for this time-saving device). Same with his skills and feats. I do this for some of my own characters to save having to locate the particular book the information may be in.
He really sounds as if he wants to be "part of the group" without actually contributing to it or having to read the books. This is like trying to service your own car without reading the service manuals and being ignorant of why a car works, then asking someone to help you.
Otherwise, you need to let him know about this problem and tell him he's spoiling the game for everyone else because of his lazy attitude.

Obviously, some of you have read "Eric and the Gazebo" ......(In an early Dungeon Mag.)

Severimem; there are lots of old modules of all levels available from past "Dungeon" magazines, which tend to be good. The monsters have mostly been upgraded to Pathfinder -or failing that, 3.5 -and the modules/adventures are great to play. We've been players for over 30 years and still have fun with the pre-Pathfinder games. Many monsters not upgraded by Pathfinder etc from earlier versions, can be found in the Tome Of Horrors.

In our games we use 3.5 rules when Pathfinder ones don't exist or don't suit us. Same with some spells. Every time the game is updated we lose a lot of the previous version's spells, some of which are really good, so we keep the ones we like and update them if necessary to fit in with the new guidelines. After all, the rules are just guidelines, they aren't set in concrete. It's only when playing with "outside" groups that you need to stick to the published rules, and we stick to our own (reasonably large) group. We're flexible.

If players produce OP characters and swear that they're legit, accept it -this time. There are ways around players who try to have their cake and eat it. Lots of good suggestions have been made; you just need to be very flexible and sometimes think outside the book. Make them targets ahead of the other characters, giving the reasoning that the enemy see them as the major threat. If they act out of character or alignment, use some humour to get around it. In a game I DMed years ago, one character with a lawful good dwarven cleric was behaving in a non-lawful way quite a bit, so when the party were all onboard a ship, I conspired with the rest of the group (while the offender was out of the room) and did a "Dallas". The character was sent a realistic dream by his deity (which he didn't realize during the event) in which he was overpowered by the ship's captain who turned out to be a wizard, and he was condemned to death for some reason I've now forgotten. The rest of the party all said, more or less "Oh that's terrible, but since he's going to die, I've always admired that dagger/sword/ purse full of gems etc, and I'll keep it as a memento of him". He couldn't believe that his party was so blase about the situation, and so back-stabbing. Then, as he was hoisted aloft by the neck, he suddenly woke in his bunk with all his gear and neck intact. However, the player took some time to realize that it was all a dream and his first action was to cast Warp Wood on the ship's hull, creating a leak, and then used Walk on Water to stroll ashore. Eventually he had to be given a "divine message" as to what had happened, but you have to be prepared for carefully-costructed lessons to backfire occasionally, and be flexible enough to cope with that event. It's all part of the fun of being a D.M.

I was assuming that you are using a d10 with 00 to 90 on it, rather than two ordinary d10s 0-9.
Of course, with two ordinary d10s you state what is what before you roll them, so everyone's clear. (different colours helps avoid confusion)

The 00 die represents 10s, the 0-9 die represents units (ones), so on the 00 die 90 = 90, and with a 0 on the unit die, that means ninety exactly, just as 90 + 9 = 99.
The only way to get 100 is to roll 00 and 0. There's no other way, so the general rules do "bend" in this instance. AFter all, no-one ever rolls "zero".

Our group of mature-age players (all over 40) recently lost a long-time player (died) and two others have had to cut back their playing time. Our group is about 50/50 male/female and have switched to Pathfinder, but like the Forgotten Realms setting. We play 3 Saturdays out of 4, with a different DM running a module each Saturday (ie. 3 different games going concurrently)and each game can go on for just a few sessions or a year or more. This allows us to have different players in each game, which is good for those who can't play every weekend. We generally play from about 2 or 3pm to 11pm. It also allows people to play and also DM without having to wait months for someone else's module to finish first. We play in North Balwyn, which is roughly the centre-point for our scattered players. We are innovative and flexible. (No, I don't mean that we're kinky!) We'd like to hear from anyone interested.

Re. the Item Cards. I decided that something had to be done in our groups' games about 20 years ago, when three players all claimed to have the same magic weapon from an earlier game, so I began photocopying items from the Players' Handbook and other sources (jewellery catalogues etc) and pasting them onto photocopied card forms. The cards were then numbered to show which game they were from, and the item number. This worked very well and still does. Today of course, it's so much easier; I can download almost any images I want from the internet and size and paste them onto sheets of cards and run them off in multiple sheets on my PC. It's useful for making one-off special items too. I designed the cards so that common items like weapons and rings and wands have some of the usual and more common special attributes printed on the card (eg swords; masterwork, adamantine, silver, keen, +..., long/short/bastard/ etc.) and the attributes relevant to any particular item can be ticked. Uncommon properties can be written in blank spaces or on the back. Commercially printed cards are good for special items, but when you have lots of items circulating in your game, the only solution is to make your own cards. My cards are sized to fit 10 to an A4 page, so they will fit in the pockets of a 9-pocket collecting-card page.