RJGrady's page

CW: Inclusivity, no pulled punches, also exasperatingly long.

Fighting racism and other isms in games means sometimes you have to call out your friends. The people at Paizo, the people who created Pathfinder in general, are great folks. Paizo took an early and consistent stand for dignity and social justice before it was mainstream. Thank you for that. And now I'm going to call them out.

Pathfinder 2e made the decision to toss the word "race" and use the term Ancestry. Race, of course, is a loaded term. Its original and strict meaning just means a group of descent. Of course, the era of empire and colonization, followed by a rash of pseudoscience in the 19th and early 20th centuries, have made it a particularly loaded term. It's really hard to argue against the term "race" pretty quickly raising a lot of real world implications any time it's used. So kudos for that. It also conveniently sidesteps whether we are talking about species, subspecies, ethnicities, or perhaps even on-human classes of beings like robots or demons. But changing a term doesn't mean anything if you don't challenge the underlying issues.

Early on in P2E, the decision was to "make ancestry matter." It wasn't something something that you simply chose when you made a character, and largely forgot as you advanced in your class. I'm going to show my hand here early and say that there are some problematic implications of saying your character is particularly defined by race and class, and that race is something that follows you throughout your destiny. You can say, okay, you are pulling those terms a little out of context. But the game itself pulls the terms out of context, avoiding a larger real world meaning that colors how those terms are used. D&D gives you a race and class. Everquest, race and class. World of Warcraft, race and class. Pathfinder 2e... ancestry and class. It really seems like a stretch to say it's some coincidence that all these games just happen to ask you a lot about your race and class, despite being mechanically independent and only sharing certain themes. Game designers, do you not hear those words when you repeat them often enough? Or have they been said so many times they've lost a connection to their underlying meaning? Are you the kind of person who in the 21st century could post "What race do you hate?" do the general forum of a roleplaying game message board without flinching?

So let's talk about ancestry mattering. There are several aspects to your ancestry. There is your origin. There is your history, which is related. There are stereotypes. And of course, the truth of those stereotypes depends on what what is your esseence. Now, the good part of choosing an ancestry is that all it truly demands is your origin. I mean that, we're off to a good start. As far as history goes, I would expect to see some matters that relate to how a history and culture shape a person. At this point, it has to be considered, to what extent is my history describing a character, and to what extent is it prescribing? Am I adding traits that are logical because of where my character is from and how they were shaped, or do the traits exist to make sure the character conforms to preconceptions of what someone of that ancestry should be? Like, if someone grows up in the USA, I would expect them to speak primarily English, with some speaking primarily Spanish or one of a few Asian languages in the case of certain populations. But if I were describing someone from Kenya, would I say they probably have farmer skills? There are lots of people working in Kenyra in agriculture, though some are not strictly speaking farmers but laborers, mechanics, and so forth. But there are also plenty of non-farmers, such as former army cook and later government economist Barack Obama, Sr. While he grew up in a village and participated in traditional culture, I would not expect him to have exceptional farming skills. For someone to learn a language, such as English, I would expect them to either know it natively, learn it academically, or acquire it through experience. It doesn't say anything about who they are as a person, really. But for someone to be a farmer, or a miner, or a priest, I would expect those characteristics and skills to hinge on opportunity and choice--not, necessarily, ancestry. More to the point, there are farmers of many different ethnicities, and they share many characteristics in common, but don't really share a definable ancestry.

Stereotypes raise some tricky issues. Now, stereotypes share a purpose in the human mind. I couldn't shop for groceries if I didn't know what to expect when I ate a banana. I would find it paralytic if I wondered, every time I approached a cashier, if we shared a language in common -- even though, on occasion, I might be surprised and, in fact, they don't speak useful English and require more than the meager Spanish I know. I stereotype doctors as having a university education, and I think of Germans as being predominately light-skinned people of European origin who speak primarily German. Now, imagine I want to characterize a people as being horse-riders, almost from birth. To a great extent that is true of many peoples who have committed to the life of a born rider. Many Native Americans, over the course of generations, adapted to a lifelong training as riders, beginning when they were very young; the medieval Mongolians, likewise. Japanese samurai were dedicated riders, and while not usually born to the saddle, might train from a very early age if they were to have a military career. In Plato's Republic, Socrates describes a system of education for the ruling elite that begins with expert horsemanship from an early age. In my roleplaying game, I want to make it possible to access this type of exceptional training. At this point, I want to ask a question, though. Is there a quantifiable difference between someone who learned to ride as barely more than a toddler, because they were raised by horseman of the Mongolian steppes, and someone who learned to ride as barely more than a toddler because they were raised by a family of Spanish trick riders? Or even someone who was put on a horse at a young age, and simply spent the next couple of decades riding every minute they weren't sleeping? Is proficiency with an axe something that naturally occurs as a part of being raised among dwarves, or is it something characteristic of dwarf culture but not something every dwarf necessary learns? If I saw all dwarves are trained in traditional weapons, unlike all humans, am I saying dwarves are programmed, destined, or raised for war? In what way is dwarven axe proficiency different or the same as the use of the Welsh longbow, or the Australian boomerage? Moving on, if dwarves are dour and stubborn, is it because that is their nature, or is that just a generality? If a dwarf is gregarious and broad-minded, do they stop being a dwarf? Do they need an exceptional explanation to be a dwarf not raised among stern, unyielding clansman as similar to the stones themselves as to other warm-blooded creatures? To what extent are stereotypes "true?" To the extent they are true, to what extent are they useful or necessary?

I'm going to skip the whole debate of how fantasy races correspond to real world people, and go right to humans. Human heritages are pretty straightforward. You can be a half-elf, half-orc, skilled, versatile, or, apparently, Wintertouched. Being a half-elf or half-orc is pretty straightforward. It doesn't mean you belong to any particular ethnicity, it means you have some non-human DNA. Specifically, "You gain the elf trait and low-light vision. In addition, you can select elf, half-elf, and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat." So basically you get a minor nonhuman superpower (low-light vision), and you can do things both humans and elves can do. That's satisfyingly non-racist. Now, there are some oddities about treating a nonhuman person and a human mating as though it were kind of just cross-cultural, but in the real world, people are of mixed ancestry, so it's nice how matter-of-factly this is treated. Skilled and Versatile give me pause. Are we saying humans are more capable than other people? Are we saying they are just generally more flexible? There are good in-game reasons to do this, particularly if humans aren't all that powerful otherwise compared to other people. But I'm going to come out here and say this smacks of European and European-American exceptionalism. It's kind of the center of white culture to assume white as the default, and white people as being "regular," of white people having access to pretty much any choice or destiny without limitation, and of having a superior and more knowledgeable cultural than "primitive" or brown people. You can actually twist this around and use those heritages to create a Skilled hunger-gatherer, or a Versatile black prince who trained as priest but is also a skilled rider. The presentation, however, is that humans are "regular," the colorless ancestry. And that's a problem in itself. Every single time a nonhuman ancestry gives something that is a skill or trait and not a superpower, you come closer to suggesting a nonhuman ancestry is an ethnicity. By implication, then, ethnicities are not "regular" human ancestries. Wintertouched is actually a little better. It gives you cold resistance. It notes, "This heritage is most common among the Jadwiga of Irrisen, due to their descent from Baba Yaga, and certain Erutaki touched by the spirits." That's... actually good. It's common, not mandatory. It isn't actually restricted to a certain ethnicity, so anyone can take who can furnish an explanation (in fact, I know real world, European-Americans who seem to have this power for inexplicable reasons). It also serves a useful purpose: it gives a resistance that is otherwise not available to humans, the ability to walk barefood in the snow. It doesn't really say much about a person beyond having this ability, and that certain origins are more likely to have this power. So, good job on that.

Let's dig deeper, looking at Feats. Arcane Tattoos states, "You have tattoos on your body corresponding to one of the ancient Thassilonian schools of magic." And that's cool. This feat exists to support the flavor that there is a Thassillonian style of magic, and that it's primarily learned by humans. You could also presumably gain this feat by living in that region, or being taught by a Thassilonia magician. There isn't a restriction, so good on that. This feat isn't racist to humans. ... But is there actually a good reason an elf couldn't get those tattoos? Or why a person couldn't have these powers with a completely different origin to their powers? All it does is give a cantrip. Elves can't have a cantrip? You can't get this power from a magical birthmark, or a distinct magical ancestry? So, I have to downgrade this one, from a cool bit of flavor, to being based on a stereotype, not really a necessary distinction.

Haughty Obstinancy is another feat, which states: "Your powerful ego makes it harder for others to order you around." So, this isn't racist, at least, against various groups of humans. It doesn't imply anything about Thasillonians, or Belgians. But is there something about this that is particularly human? First of all, I'll note there are real-world human cultures were powerful egos are anathema, so this is a little ethnocentric, a little bit of an erasure. It also feels to me this is masculine-coded. But let's set that aside. What this feat says is that if you know someone is human, you might imagine they have a powerful ego, whereas if there are an elf, you don't. In other words, ancestry is personality. That sounds an alarm bell for me. Further, this isn't necessary or useful as a distinction at all, since can't a member of any ancestry have a powerful ego? Halflings are generally considered vain, not arrogant, but wasn't a Smeagol once a being very much like a halfling? This feat exists purely to reinforce a stereotype about humans. By implication, stereotypes about other ancestries are also valid. There is no argument whether this stereotype is true or not, the game says it's true, which means the developers are saying it's true, and when you implement this in your game, you are saying this is true. When you go out on St. Patrick's Day and perform drunkenness and perform parodies of Irish culture and arts, and talk about being 1/16th Irish with an Irish temper, you are saying you are basically fine with this feat. Just imagine for a minite, if instead of a Human Ancestry, we had an Irish Ancestry, and there was an Irish feat, Irish Temper. From there we can extrapolate Inscrutable Motives for an Oriental Ancestry, and Natural Rhythm for your African Ancestry (which your American mixed-ancestry black can take due to their Half-African Heritage). But wait, I can hear some of you thinking, these are about different non-human ancestries, not ancestries within the human race.

Don't worry, I've got you. We've got:

Know Oneself
Access Vudrani ethnicity
You center yourself and call to mind the Vudrani monastic ideals of mindfulness and self-knowledge. You fail the save against the emotion effect instead of critically failing.

Quah Bond
Access Shoanti ethnicity
You grew up among the Shoanti tribes, with the spirits watching over you, and they offer you guidance. You gain the trained proficiency rank in the skill listed for your quah (or another skill of your choice, if you’re already trained in that skill). You gain the Assurance skill feat in that skill, as the spirits’ help guides your actions.
Lyrune-Quah Religion
Shadde-Quah Athletics
Shriikirri-Quah Nature
Shundar-Quah Diplomacy
Sklar-Quah Intimidation
Skoan-Quah Medicine
Tamiir-Quah Acrobatics

I particularly appreciate that we get not only a stereotype for the Quah, but stereotypes for the individual tribes. Know Onself, sadly, requires access through the Vuldrani ethnicity, so you won't be able to learn it from a storefront in Los Angeles, California without some kind of feat or permission from the GM.

So here are two feats that show that stereotypes about the personalities, characteristics, and skills of human ethnicities are "true." There is no ambiguity, the game says these differences exist, and when you implement these rules, you are saying these differences exist. There are stand-ins for mysterious, mystical Orientals in P2e, and there are stand-ins for traditional tribal people who are all known for one fascinating exotic skill. Don't worry, there are higher levels feats as well, to make sure at 5th level you can "swim like a fish" due to your ancestry, or that, "You’ve learned to split your focus between multiple classes with ease," very handy for people from members of one class who wish to participate in other, and are able to by virtue of their ancestry.

P2E has been designed to ensure that ancestry is not just an inconsequential choice you make at character creation, but one that shapes you throughout your life and career as you advance in your class.

Is there anything equivalent to or that would have similar utility to the spell disguise self?

What official, unofficial, and third party options exist for letting some characters run around in clothes, some of the time?

My first Starfinder character, shamelessly copied from Bossk from Star Wars. The Vesk in turn seem to have been somewhat inspired by Trandoshans, so this is all full circle.

Vosk
Vosk was an accountant. He joined the Vesk Imperial forces, and served a few months before being sidelined by injuries. After his recovery, he realized he was bored by peacetime. He began working as an interplanetary guide, courier, and skip tracer, before being lured into bounty hunting by a large collar.

Race: Vesk
Alignment: NE
Deity: Damoritosh

Languages: Common, Vesk

Theme: Bounty Hunter
Theme Knowledge

Class: Envoy 1

STR 14 (+2), DEX 11, CON 14 (+2), INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 14 (+2)

EAC: 11 (+1 racial)
KAC: 12 (+1 armor, +1 racial)
HP: 12
SP: 8
Saving throws: Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +2
Resolve Points: 3

Armor Savant
Fearless
Low-Light Vision
Natural Weapons (1d3)
Armor Proficiency (light)
Weapon Proficiency (basic melee weapons, grenades, small arms)
Envoy improvisation (dispiriting taunt)
Expertise (1d6)
Skill Expertise (Intimidate)

Skills
Bluff 1 (+6)
Computers 1 (+4)
Diplomacy 1 (+6)
Intimidate 1 (+6)
Perception 1 (+4)
Sense Motive 1 (+4)
Stealth 1 (+4)
Survival 1 (+4)

Feats: Longarm Proficiency

Initiative +0
Melee unarmed (claw) +2, 1d3+2
Ranged hunting rifle +0, 1d8 P, 90 ft., 6 rounds, analog

Equipment 1000
Hunting rifle
flash grenade I
rounds (25)
Stationwear, flightsuit
Binders
Personal comm unit
Medpatch (2)
Credits: 210

I'm still fairly new to 2e. How is a monster ability usable 1/day denoted? Like can you stick a x1 on it like an innate spell? Or does it need a Frequency and Effect block? If it has Frequency does it need to say Effect? Are Frequency and Effect only associated with actions, or could it be part of an automatic ability?

Is Guns Everywhere as a campaign rule generally considered to apply to technological firearms like the laser rifle?

If you pre-order the hard copy, do you get the PDF?

and it's five stars!

Come check out the monster madness for yourself. 100+ monsters, pay what you want.

The fist that wins is the only fist you need!

Monastic Traditions is now available

Eight new traditions. Thunder and lightning, flying blades, combat textiles, and more.

Do you like Pathfinder-focused Patreon projects? If so, what kind of content attracts you?

One of the things that's really likable about 5e is that you can grab an old module, and very often, just drop in the new versions of old monsters and run it. However, there are just a few notable exceptions. One of those things is the reversal of the specter and the wraith in the undead hierarchy. The specter is the class double level drain bad guy, whereas the wraith is your midlevel undead that makes you full of misery and regret you don't have a cleric. I do not know, but I can guess at the reasons:

- With LOTR being more in the front of people's minds right now, wraiths seem like they should be really powerful
- Specters are and have been in the past a sort of "ghost you can punch," a haunt that doesn't have an elaborate backstory or rejuvenation abilities
- Incorporeal undead are de-emphasized, and energy drain as such has been substantially altered, so there really isn't a place in the ecosystem for a "double level drain" incorporeal high level undead; a higher level specter would just be a wraith with more hit dice that did more damage

But it's really weird to me, after all those editions of D&D, to see the wraith as the badder bad guy, and the specter as cannon fodder. I have a soft spot for specter lieges and their half-strength offspring. And, yes, depending on the context, you likely have to swap wraiths and specters in older modules to get the balance right.

Have any of you ever experimented with half proficiencies, allowing a character to take two proficiencies at half bonus in place of a full bonus?

I'm not saying this is any way an imminent thing, but for some time now I have been working on some revisions for A Fistful of Denarii. I personally am very proud of it. Apart from my own sentimental pride, it has been an evergreen seller. I am grateful to my buyers and want to continue to support them in their enjoyment of this product. I think it's a great book that presaged a lot of concepts, like hybrid classes, and strong martial classes like the brawler.

That said, a lot of that originality means that it has not aged all that gracefully. Some of the material still plays as great as the day I wrote it. On the other hand, some of has suffered from a moving target in terms of how new material has been presented and balanced. I have my own list of items to address. My question to you is this:

What would you like to see updated, improved, or otherwise changed? Do you see some things as now irrelevant, and if so, what do you think could be done to salvage the soul of that material?

I just wanted to drop in a quick word about the latest from Tripod Machine, Yokai Races.

This book contains:

Hengeyokai - magical animals that take on human form
Kodama-hanyou - mortal descendents of woodland spirits
Korobokkuru - secretive and short in stature, but stalwart
Obake-hanyou - scions of a shapechanging bloodline
Oni-hanyou - children of the oni
Suijin-hanyou - descendents of great water spirits

Feel free to ask me any questions, here or on the product's page.

Okay, there's Skybourne. What else is out there for airships, or settings featuring airships?

We've been playing around with prices a bit to find the right balance. Ultimately, we've gone back to what I call "app prices," a few bucks per book. The upshot is that many of our products are cheaper now than they have been this last year. If you've been on the fence, now might be a good time to buy that Tripod Machine Pathfinder class option.

Check out our products HERE.

Tripod Machine is pleased to announce the release of

Primal Paths

a nice little bundle of eight primal paths for the barbarian class. This is our first release since the new SRD, so that's cool.

Check it out.

Come get some.

Observing that

Mythic Simple Templates
The following simple templates can be used to turn any monster into a mythic creature. A creature given one of these templates counts as a mythic creature for the purposes of spells, abilities, and magic items even though it doesn't have the mythic subtype. Note that because it doesn't have the mythic subtype, it doesn't gain the many benefits of having the mythic subtype—the creature only gains the benefits described in the simple template.

and the Arcane Template is as follow

Arcane (MR 1 or 2, CR +1)
Creatures with the arcane template are infused with arcane power, capable of casting a limited number of arcane spells. If the creature has 11 or more Hit Dice, this simple template grants a mythic rank of 2 instead of 1. An arcane creature's quick and rebuild rules are the same.

Rebuild Rules: AC +2 deflection bonus; hp mythic bonus hit points; SR gains SR equal to its new CR + 11; Special Attacks mythic magic, simple arcane spellcasting.

and the text of mythic magic reading:

Mythic Magic (Su): Up to three times per day, when the creature casts a spell, it can cast the mythic version instead (as with all mythic spells, the creature must expend mythic power to cast a mythic spell in this way).
Format: mythic magic 3/day; Location: Special Attacks.

my question is this: How does mythic magic work for an arcane creatures, since it has no mythic power?

Same question for the divine template.

Okay, I've been fairly tied up with non-RPG work, and I'm still elbows deep in Conquest of the Universe for Pathfinder, so it's been a while since I've put something new up. But I did manage to squeeze out Advanced Bloodrager Bloodlines. This book collects the sorcerer bloodlines from the APG and UM and turns them into bloodrager bloodlines. The bloodlines are as follows:

Accursed, Aquatic, Boreal, Deep Earth, Djinni, Dreamspun, Efreeti, Maestro, Marid, Protean, Rakshasa, Serpentine, Shadow, Shaitan, Starsoul, Stormborn, Verdant

It's up on RPGnow, and look for it to hit Paizo.com and www.d20prsrd.com soon.

Salud!

Now I can't shake the sensation my entry might be fairly similar to one of last year's entries, but I have no idea how to go about checking that.

So, I finished hammering out the beta for Adventuring Classes: Magician Exalted, and I need some extra eyes. If you are interested in giving the book a once-over, private message or email me with your name as you would like it to appear in the credits, and the email address associated with your account at OBS/RPGnow/Drivethru. You will receive an acknowledgement in the final book, as well as a download.

The magician is a variant 9th level caster, specializing in conjuration, illusions, enchantment, and polymorphing. They are inspired by fairy-tale magicians and the flamboyant, if sometimes middling magicians of Vance's Dying Earth. Magicians are more narrow in scope than a wizard, but have talents all their own.

The blurb:

With a snap of the fingers and a perfect incantation, the magician commands matter and spirit. A magician's strengths are the conjuring of the elements, illusions, enchantments, and wondrous transformations. A magician's power comes from rigorous study and a powerful, even arrogant, will. Although much of the magician's arts have been assimilated into wizardry and sorcery, the magician's art remains a distinct, baroque tradition. Magicians are rarely theoretical in their approach. Instead, they are classicists. A magician studies a spell once, twice, thrice, a thousand times, perfecting each gesture, each syllable, and the properly exalted state of mind. Most magicians begin their careers as traditional apprentices, but some are driven by uncommon ambition to acquire their powers through tutoring or self-study.

Familiar (Ex): The warlock vigilante gains a familiar
(Core Rulebook 82), using his vigilante level as his effective
wizard level. The familiar also has a social identity as
a seemingly normal animal, though vigilantes with
outlandish familiars may still need to hide the familiar.

Something about this just tickles me. Like, the Night Warlock has a raven familiar named Lockraven, and Lady Tickelsby just happens to have a pet raven named Philodoxus who hangs around, doing regular raven stuff. And pretty much no one suspects. It's awesome, yet simultaneously, extremely silly.

I'm not quite sure how this works, though. Strictly speaking, accessing the familiar ability in your social identity is forbidden. Does that mean just using its special familiar powers, like share spell? Or does even talking to it count? Or is the "social identity" of the familiar actually just a normal animal, with no access to familiar powers?

Does the familiar have dual identity?

Dual Identity needs scaling utility, otherwise, it will be a a tempting to give characters in an intrigue-based campaign a single level dip. If vigilante 5 isn't in some ways more appealing than brawler 4/vigilante 1, that's a problem. It seems like it's way too tempting in an intrigue-based campaign to snag a vigilante's ability to foil scrying.

The utility of dual identity should be balanced against other options for members of other classes. If the 1st level utility is so awesome, maybe it needs to be re-balanced.

Conversely, there ought to be some increased utility to the dual identity at higher levels.

My gut says that at 1st level, changing identities should be involved. Maybe not five minutes involved, but involved. By 3rd level, it should be competing as a disguise with spells and other skilled characters, so I would expect fairly quick changes.

I'm thinking that at 1st level, it could give you an automatic save against divination if someone tries to scry or detect the "wrong" identity. Or maybe it's just a generous save bonus that later turns into an auto-save. At higher levels, your identity could be more actively misleading; detect thoughts shows only your active identity, detect spells show an aura of your current identity, etc.

So, I'm putting together a campaign that may feature a Tiny race is a basic option. It occurred to me that I could end up in a lot more situations where Tiny creatures are fighting Tiny creatures. I don't have a huge amount of experience in that area. Has anyone else ever dealt with this before? Does the lack of threatened squares make it weird?

So, let's say someone were hypothetically putting together a setting minibook, and one of the options they were exploring was a fairy race. How disruptive would you consider it to have a flying race as a basic option?

A Fistful of Denarii has been an evergreen seller, so I do what I can to keep it up to date. With the Advanced Class Guide and Pathfinder Unchained out, I think it's time to revisit the designs in the book again. I already have some ideas for some revisions, but I really want some input from you. If you have an axe to grind, now is the time to speak up!

What do you like about each class? What do you not like? What do you see as the central themes of each class?

Some initial thoughts:

Beastmaster: A fighting duo. Originally, this was based on the barbarian, with rage being swapped out for the druid's animal companion. Now, it makes sense to compare it to the hunter (ACG).

Bounty Hunter: A ranger-rogue hybrid that focuses on a single target. This class has had its toes substantially stepped on by the slayer (ACG). Is there something notable about this class that warrants it being revised? What if anything distinguishes it from the slayer (bounty hunter)?

Corbie: A variant fighter that trades heavy combat for better skill use and save advantages. This one is probably the least affected by recently published material, although I feel like I should eyeball it in relation to the unchained rogue. I also find myself wondering if the corbie would thrive as a grit/panache class, or if that would push it too close to the swashbuckler.

Corsair: The corsair is a pretty straight-up fighter-rogue hybrid with a nautical theme. As such, I'm looking at elements of the unchained rogue that might apply.

Gladiator: The gladiator is basically a fighter variant with some barbarian and monk thrown in. I have some thoughts about turning the gladiator into a panache class. On the other hand, I could see adding some variation on the warpriest's sacred weapon ability.

Hunter: Obviously needs a rename. I don't think it needs a lot of changes, but maybe some enhanced prowess with critical hits.

Knight: The cavalier and samurai now cover a lot of the same ground archetypally. In terms of abilities, I think I missed in beat in making this character an effective diplomat. It was built as a fighter-bard hybrid, but I think it may need a little more bard.

Martial Artist: May need to be re-examined in light of the brawler and monk unchained.

Scholar: The unchained rogue may warrant some adjustments in this class. When it was written, the scholar had this realm almost all to itself. Now the Investigator has moved into similar territory.

Scout: As this class was based heavily on the rogue, I am looking at the unchained rogue to make some tune-ups. I may also modify their targeted strike slightly.

Spy: Already more of a variant rogue or mega-archetype rogue, the unchained rogue begs some obvious comparisons, especially with regard to when some skill unlock abilities come online.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is RJ Grady. My first freelance project was Unorthodox Barbarians d20. I started my own product line, Tripod Machine, with the five-starred Adventuring Classes: A Fistful of Denarii. Since then, I have run a successful Kickstarter for Conquest of the Universe, a space opera setting for the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game, currently under development. Now, I am happy to announce that I am writing a book for Dreamscarred Press, Airships.

Airships builds on some of the best OGL content from the third edition era, bringing it up to date for Pathfinder. Airships integrates smoothly with the vehicles rules in Ultimate Combat, but builds upon them, to capture the spirit of daring balloon races in the air or ship-to-ship combat between dwarven Waraxe-type craft. The bulk of the book concerns aerial combat and movement and airship construction. It also includes new material for player characters in aerial campaigns, including feats, class archetypes, and new spells.

Today, we open a month-long playtest of the material. Because of the breadth and length of the material, your feedback is absolutely important. Based on the criticism and input you offer, we will thrash this thing into its final form. Feel free to drop comments or questions into this discussion thread. You may also email me at pawsplay@yahoo.com.

If you agree to take part in our playtest, just click on the link below where you can view the playtest document and make comments.

PLAYTEST DOCUMENT

I don't think I made an announcement in this forum. Sorcerer's Bloodlines 2 is now available. Like the previous installment, this offers some fun new options, including some that riff on other elements in the game as well as less stereotypical options that will make your sorcerer character stand out. So, check it out. Let me know what you think.

This is a really basic adaptation of the cleric to be more of a pure caster. This is sometimes called a cloistered cleric, a "robe cleric," or a white mage. It's not something I could really see charging money for, and I don't have any kind of larger book in the works in which to stick. So, I'm just giving it away for free.

You can download it here.

If you have any suggestions for improvements, just shoot. If your suggestion is, "This is a really basic adaptation, a true white mage type caster would be so much cooler," that's true. This is really just house rules that changed out of its pajamas to go out.

Enjoy!

Check it out.

Nine new mysteries, 19 new curses. The core mysteries depart a little from "generic" concepts like the cleric domains. Since mysteries aren't mix-and-match, each one has to do more work. I tried to honor that spirit. Some of the material is quirky, a lot is different, and I hope most of it is cool. Let me know what you think.

If you post in this thread in the next 24 hours with the name of a Tripod Machine PDF, I will give it to you. Just in case this gets crazy, I'll cap it at, oh, the first hundred posters.

I need readers to offer feedback and proofing on a follow-up to Oracle's Curse. This is the final pass, so I need a quick turnaround. If I receive your feedback in time, you will receive a credit in the final book and a PDF of the final book.

If interested, PM me with your interest and tell me what email address you use for Drivethru/RPGnow. If you have done this for me previously, you can email me directly.

I already posed question this to my Conquest of the Universe Kickstarter backers. I'm putting the final touches on the big playtest packet, and I just haven't been able to decide which way to go on beam weapons and firearms. The way Ultimate Combat handles firearms is a little quirky and might not fit a space opera milieu, and the Technology Guide treats them as treasure, more like magic items. So I'm considering carefully how this should be handled in a high-tech setting. Here are the three general categories of solutions I am looking at:

1. Treat blasters and firearms like any other weapons. Try to to keep AC bonuses tamped down. Ignore the UC version of firearms, the Technology Guide, and everything else.

Pros: Simple. No re-balancing of core options required. Might not fit genre conventions, since armor is not all that common in space opera.

Cons: Slightly weird in some corner cases, like blaster rifles versus leather armor.

2. Use the Technology guide versions. Blasters are touch attacks, like magic wands. Introduce options to boost AC situationally.

Pros: Plug-and-play for using other technological items in your CotU games, and the reverse.

Cons: Weird in other areas, like armor being almost useless against the primary weapons. Raises questions I don't want to have to address about beam blades. Serious re-balancing issues, as those weapons were balanced as treasure, not as basic sidearms for low-level characters.

3. Adapt the Anachronistic Adventurers variant. Firearms and beam weapons get to roll critical confirmations against touch AC, making them deadly, but not able to completely ignore armor.

Pros: I've always liked this approach to dealing with Pathfinder's quirks.

Cons: Now that UC and the Technology guide are out, and Owen is (ahem) working for Paizo, this is no longer a widely used approach.

Thoughts?

Simple question. Mending can repair a destroyed magic item, though it loses its powers. Can it repair a destroyed non-magical item? The destroyed condition specifically says the object cannot be repaired.

The Technology Guide mentions robots, but doesn't seem to define the type. Looking at www.d20pfsrd.com, I know the type shows up in the Inner Sea Bestiary. Is it defined anywhere else?

Ok, I like smart characters, and the investigator is similar to some things I've written up on my own. I also like a lot of their talents. I'm not a huge fan of studied strike, but it's okay. It seems like the kind of thing I would be into.

Except, I don't like how the inspiration mechanics works. It starts off okay, with it being an expendable resource, except for the bonus Knowledge dice. Eventually, though, the inspiration pool can become largely redundant except as a combat reserve, and you end up rolling 1d6, 2d6, 4d6 alongside a 1d20. It seems tedious. But maybe I'm being unfair. Is it something you stop noticing at the table after a while? Or is it as awkward as I imagine? My reservations are such that I haven't played one, and I have only limited experience watching them in action. Maybe inspiration dice are completely fun for some people, and it's just not for me.

Experiences? Thoughts?

Check it out!

My latest publication, The Kensei, is now available on Paizo.com

HERE.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Especially as the game is very new, there probably will be revisions later.

Is an enemy whoever you believe is an enemy? Or is it whoever believes themselves your enemy? Can an ally by an enemy? Can you be your own enemy?

The runemage is a specialized spellcaster, particularly skilled in abjuration, conjuration, and the magic of symbols. Although they receive a limited spell list compared to a wizard, they gain special abilities, called sigil arts, that help them specialize in summoning, defensive runes, and combat.

I'm looking for some readers interested in proofing and offering feedback on the Runemage class. You need to be available this week. Priority will be given to people who have previously volunteered, but did not respond in time to make the list for other books. Payment will be in the form of a PDF of the final book, a special thanks, and the warm satisfaction of helping another sentient being in need.

If interested, private message me with the name under which you would like to receive credit, your preferred email address, and the email address associated with your RPGnow.com account (if different).

Who has experience with this?
What was it like?
The FAQ says no tables, how do you handle class tables?

Payment is in a PDF of the book, a special thanks, and eternal glory. You must have an established posting history, be able to read, know what a sorcerer bloodline is, and be able to turn around your response quickly.

PM me if interested. :)

Is using a wand casting a spell?
Using a SLA?
A scroll?

I'm aiming this particularly at people who purchase third party bestiaries, but anyone feel free to chime in.

If you crack open a bestiary, and an entry is a magical beast, what do you expect? Does it have to have some off-the-wall magical power? Or could it get away with just sucking out eyeballs or something? What if something is like an owlbear, which is really just an extra-dangerous animal that looks weird? Is a cool name or illustration good enough to "sell" something that has nothing more exotic going for it than pounce or constrict?

Do you ever stare at a magical beast entry and think, "I don't care if it's half-bird and half-donkey, that should be an animal?"

I was hoping to get a little pre-release feedback from you gentle folk. Are you a fan of the 3.5 warlock, or saw unrealized potential in it? If so,

1. What did you like most about it?
2. Least?
3. What do you consider essential to capture its essence?
4. What would you be looking for in a Pathfinder class along those lines? Is there any kind of oomph you would like to see?
5. Thoughts on the Pathfinder sorcerer, witch, and other classes with regard to the warlock archetype?

So, what are the options out there for PC races who closely resemble a certain race of living constructs? What is notable or unique about them? What makes that version particularly good, or troublesome?

I'm trying to get a sense of the scale of economics in Pathfinder. What are some things that cost a cool million gp?