Sean Robson's page

I just wrote a review of Pathfinder Minatures: Goblin Warriors, but the review got eaten and instead, a review of Bendy Dungeon Walls that I wrote in December was put up in its place

Having said that, I'm not going to be a fanboi and criticize you personally... but I'd like to point out that the Editorial Department of this company is one of the most personally accessible in the gaming industry. You have a question, a concern, or just want to bounce ideas- as quickly as any sane workload permits, they're online talking to the consumers. That's value that is *NEVER* quantified by folks when they get upset. Their time has value, and by god they're pretty generous with it really.

I hear what you're saying Watcher, but this wasn't an issue of me being impatient because I didn't get an immediate response, Joshua and Mike replied (several times) and avoided answering what I thought was a simple and perfectly reasonable question.

That question may have been answered before on other threads, but I don't have the time or inclination to slog through hundreds of posts to find out basic information about the product.

The issue is resolved now though, and its all good. But if it becomes burdensome for the staff to respond to product queries, particularly if they're getting the same queries over and over, they could save a lot of time by writing up more thorough product descriptions.

Anyway, I appreciate you not engaging in a personal attack against me - I was expecting to have to don a nomex suit to protect me from the flames of rabid fanboyz (and girlz) that embark on jihads the moment anyone criticizes Paizo. Cheers!

I just saw this thread again.

I think of it this way: the Gazetteer is a preview of the hardcover--an opportunity for you to get some information on our world now and a more comprehensive look at our world in August. To the best of my knowledge, nearly everything in the Gazetteer will be in the hardcover. The Gazetteer is, however, the first time we've ever released a poster map of the focus of our campaign setting: the continents of Garund and Avistan.

Alas, these two products were supposed to be six months apart in the original plan. The Gazetteer was delayed for a number of reasons and unfortunately pushed them closer together.

No spin. (And I think Mike was joking -- we're not a spin company. We're a shoot-from-the-hip, no jive-talkin', customer friendly bunch o' folks.) Sorry it took so long for us to give you the answer you were looking for.

What we won't do is make up your mind for you, though. :-)

Thanks Joshua, that answers my question. Sorry for being so curt previously, but two days of banging my head against the wall was making it hurt and wearing my patience awfully thin. I'm relieved that you haven't all turned into a traveling band of snake-oil salesmen (though I do wish that Mike could have just answered my question instead of making my head explode :)0.

I don't ask you to make up my mind, just give me the info so I can do it myself. Thanks again - you've saved the day and kept a customer.

Cpt_kristov was nice enough to quote a section of the thread you chose not to read concerning the Gazetteer's content not six posts up. If money is a concern, save it and get the hardcover in August. If you can't wait, then get the Gazetteer.

Which didn't answer my question, as I pointed out in a reply that you chose not to read before involving yourself in the issue.

It's called "spin," Sean. It's in our best interest to put everything we say and do in the best possible light. :)

Yeah, I know.

I was really hoping for a little less spin and a little more honesty though. You have a loyal following, myself included, but that loyalty is really put to the test when we can't trust you to be honest and forthright in your product descriptions. Most of us can't afford to buy everything that you produce, so we really need to know what we're buying in order to make an informed decision. Would you rather make one sale and lose a dissatisfied customer who didn't get what he was expecting or lose a sale and gain a loyal customer who will make dozens of purchases in the future?

As an example, If someone from Paizo had had the decency to give me a straight answer to my question I would have decided which product I wanted, bought it and happily continued to buy more things from you for many years to come. Unfortunately because you all tried to "play" me and go for the quick sale I probably won't purchase either product, will likely cancel my Pathfinder subscription and take my business to company that respects me and won't insult my intelligence this way.

I'm very disappointed in you all - I expected a whole lot better from a company of Paizo's reputation for valuing their customers. :(

From the first thread Josh licked above - 10th post:

Joshua J. Frost wrote:

Robert Brambley wrote:

So then it begs to question: Why would someone want to buy the Gazetteer or the Darkmoon Vale Guide (june) if all the info will also be in the hardcover come August?

The Gazetteer is our first look at the campaign setting. It's also our only currently available look at our campaign setting. Originally these were scheduled to be released six months apart but, alas, that didn't end up being the case.

Unfortunately, this doesn't answer my question. Reading between the lines though, it appears that there is nothing in the Gazetteer that won't be in the hardcover and the ONLY reason to buy the gazetteer is if you absolutely can't wait until August or don't want to spend $50 for the full setting.

I really wish that someone would confirm or deny this. I'm at a loss as to why everyone from Paizo is being so evasive about this and will not give a straight answer.

The gazetteer and hardcover are about as player friendly and GM friendly as the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting hardcover, which we generally consider to be the best CS hardcover put out to date. So if you thought the FRCS was well-balanced for both players and GMs you should also like how we approach the PCCS. :)

In other words, there's plenty in the PCCS hardcover for players, but there's also a tonne for GMs. :)

Okay, now I'm really confused. Both the gazetteer and PFCS hardcover are equally GM/player friendly. So what, if anything does the gazetteer include that the hardcover won't. I understand that the hardcover is going to have lots more stuff in it than the gazetteer, but is there any purpose in buying the gazetteer if you are going to buy the hardcover?

I do know the Gazetteer is much more player friendly than the hardcover. At least that is what I read. I would imagine that is unchanged. With that in mind it might be worth it to have a copy of the Gazetteer for player use.

Thanks very much, Alleyn. If this is the case, I'll likely give it a pass, pending clarification from someone in the know at Paizo. I like to customize campaign settings to my own tastes and make them my own, and the end result will be quite a bit different than the published product so a book for the players won't be very useful in my case.

It is an overview of the setting. It has some basic info on the races, calendars, nations, and the gods. I equate it to the original Greyhawk folio or boxed set. A nice thumbnail sketch of what to expect from the setting. It is a good read and gives some great insight into the history, politics, and social mores of the setting.

The hardcover will expand on that info and weigh in at over 256 pages versus the gazetter's 64 pages. I assume it will look a great deal like your standard hardcover setting product, not unlike 3e Forgotten Realms. Some info might be repeated but you can expect expansions on what was presented in the Gazetteer.

Does that help?

Yes, thanks very much. What I really want to know though, is how much overlap there will be, which only the folks at Paizo can tell us. Is the Gazetteer a thumbnail sketch that will be elaborated on in the campaign setting, or does it cover in greater detail what will only be treated cursorily in the campaign setting? If the former, then I'll wait for the campaign setting, if the latter then I'd be willing to buy it.

This has been covered in a few threads already:

Pathfinder Hardcover this August... @ 49.99???

and

Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting (OGL) Hardcover

Post again to this thread if those threads aren't addressing your specific concerns.

Thanks!

Do you seriously expect me to read several hundred posts (there were 314 in one thread alone) to find out information that should be in the product description to begin with? I really don't mean to sound snarky, but I'm not willing to spend half my day trying to get an answer to a simple question.

All I got from a quick peruse of the threads was that the Gazetteer was a first look at the setting. This doesn't tell me much.

Please don't be offended, because I really do like the Pathfinder material that I've seen so far, but you have so much product coming out so quickly that it is very difficult to figure out what is what - and the product descriptions can vary from vague to outright useless. I read one recently (I can't remember for which product) that went on and on with cooking metaphors such as "basted in creative juices" and such, and offered virtually no substantive information about the product.

I want to want this stuff, but I've only got so much money and have to choose carefully what to buy. Please meet me half way and provide me with enough qualitative information to make an informed decision and leave meaningless bafflegab to the politicians.

Thanks!

I'm confused about how the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer differs in content from what will appear in the upcoming hardcover Campaign Setting book. Based on the vague product descriptions it sounds as though everything in the Gazetteer will be in the campaign setting. How much, if any, of the Gazetteer will be unique and how much will be reprinted in the campaign setting?

The more I read about 4E, the more I believe it is "D&D".

Is it the "D&D" I want to play, though?

Perhaps the question should be: "Is 4E the game system I want to play?" because its tough to get a consensus of what "D&D" is.

When Advanced Dungeons and Dragons came out Gary Gygax stated quite emphatically that AD&D was NOT D&D - it was a completely different game system. So, by strict definition, nothing that came after the original rules is D&D.

But, as has been pointed out, most people define D&D based on their own experiences and feelings, probably reflecting what version of the rules they started playing with. Personally, I've never considered 3rd Edition to be "real" D&D - I think it is a good fantasy roleplaying game, but pretty far removed in both flavour and crunch from its progenitors.

I'd break "D&D" down into probably four (or possibly more) different game systems: 1. Dungeons and Dragons (original), 2. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (1E, 2E, and 3E [Castles and Crusades]*), 3. WotC Dungeons and Dragons (1E, 1.5E, and 2E[Pathfinder RPG]), and finally 4. WotC New Dungeons and Dragons.

* I include Castles and Crusades as AD&D 3E because, to paraphrase Gary Gygax: "AD&D is dead as a game system as Latin is dead as a language, so we must embrace Castles and Crusades as its logical successor.")

The version of "D&D" that I play is Castles and Crusades. What game system do you want to play?

Hello everyone, I'm the painter in who will be painting the minis that Chris FitzPatrick doesn't. DMcCoy1693 - I do accept commissions. Information about that, and a great many pictures of minis can be found on my site.

Thanks for the link, Marike - fantastic website! I spent hours, this weekend, admiring the beautiful minis you've painted. I love looking at galleries of painted minis, they're a great source of inspiration for paint schemes, and I always pick up a few technique pointers from studying the work of pros.

How bout here:

http://paizo.com/pathfinder/pathfinderChronicles/v5748btpy7zde

This book is only a reimagining of ten classic monsters. Pathfinder RPG is going to have to have its own actual "monster manual" at some point, since the 3.5 Monster Manuals won't be in print much longer.

So I took the alpha to my WFRP game last night to get some impressions from my group. The first thing that someone pointed out as a problem - what is to prevent a cleric from turning when there are no undead present to be turned. Essentially turning attempts are not just mass heals that also hurt undead.

His suggestion was to key the heal to the damage done. So when a cleric does X damage to undead creatures it also heals X HP to the living.

Nice fix. I'm going to incorporate the new turning rules into my current game, and the potential abuse hadn't occurred to me - I'll be using your suggestion.

I agree, there are more unique ways to help out fighters than giving them DR... and while capstone abilities are good, having so much in one big lump strains credibility a bit. I'm digging the 'armored moves' idea... maybe let fighters treat armor as one class lighter at (say) 11th level and two classes lighter at 19th. Cements the fighter's role as the heavy armor guy and makes mithril a bit less of a requirement.

I concur with you and Meepo. Reducing armor penalties would be a good way to further establish the fighter the master of heavy armor.

I like it. Other then +20 to hit and a lot of HP, fighters get dull at high levels. Level 19 and the fellow can turn blows with a specific type of armor for 10 points of DR not overwhelming and one does have to be level 19. Wreck that armor or shield and those DR are gone, the barbarian wil be doing fine in comparisson.

I won't dispute your first two points, fighters did need some jazzing up, and the ability probably isn't game unbalancing at 19th level. I just don't happen to like this particular ability. How often do armor or shields get destroyed? It certainly doesn't happen often enough to be any kind of impediment to the class feature.

I think the thing I dislike most is that it is an inelegant solution that is at odds with the rules and feels tacked-on. 3.5 has more than enough clunky tacked-on rules already - I'd prefer to see the Pathfinder rpg streamline the system with elegant, internally consistent rules.

Re: Armor Mastery (fighter class ability, pg. 12)

While I like a lot of the changes that have been made to the fighter class, I have a couple of concerns about this ability.

1) It seems to be stepping on the barbarian's toes a bit too much. I'm not sure if the other classes are going to be reimagined as the base 4 have been, and if so what they might entail, but as the classes stand right now, giving DR to the fighter (albeit not until lvl 19) makes the barbarian all the less attractive. On the other hand you could just throw in a Rage feat and do away with the barbarian class entirely, making it a type of fighter build.

2) Allowing armor to confer DR is conceptually wrong. While many rpg's use a DR system for armor (and for very good reasons) it isn't how armor has ever worked in D&D and I think it is wrong to confuse the mechanics. In D&D armor is understood to increase the wearer's AC, thereby making him harder to hit. Given this core assumption it is difficult to conceive how being an experienced armor-wearer would confer some sort of magical ability to negate damage. The earlier class ability Armor Training (pg. 11) is more consistent with the D&D rules and is a good example of how armor bonus can improve with experience within the existing framework of the ruleset.

Re: Weapon Swap feat (pg. 39)

I have some problems with this feat both conceptually and mechanically. Conceptually I have a hard time picturing whacking an opponent 'x' number of times with one hand then switching hands and whacking him 2 more times with the other. The two-weapon fighting feat is supposed to reflect the difficulty of fighting with two weapons simultaneously. Fighting exclusively first with one hand and then the other is not the same thing because you aren't actually fighting with two weapons, but making some attacks with your off-hand. This might sound like a fine distinction, but why then carry two weapons at all? You could just carry one weapon and pass it to your off hand and get a bunch of extra attacks. This just screams 'wrong' to me.

Mechanically, I think the feat is open to abuse. If, say, one were to combine it with the Monkey Grip feat (Sword and Fist), you could get two offhand attacks with your +5 Greatsword of Uberness.

With all respect this feat looks more like something I'd see on a Munchkin card than in an actual rpg. I'd definitely not allow it (I don't allow Money Grip either for that matter).

My players hate Avner more than any character in the campaign, including Vanthus. The relationship started out badly when the PCs first met Avner at a dinner party held in their honour, and he criticized the party swashbuckler's swordsmanship and offered to give him some pointers on how to properly use a sword. At the same party, Avner seduced 16 year old Larissa Lidu, got her pregnant, then fled the city in the Sea Wyvern.

In the last session the party had a nasty encounter with a tribe of bullywugs on the Isle of Dread which cost the lives of Urol (whom the PCs loved) and one of the PCs. After the fight, in which Avner frequently cried for help whenever a bullywug came anywhere near his position, he casually remarked, "That was a bit of a challenge - I was almost worried there for a moment." He almost died for that crack. I wonder if Avner can make it all the way to Farshore before the party kills him.

Are the two poster maps, by themselves worth 15 dollars plus shipping? I ask this question is all seriousness. Are they that good?

I gather that the poster maps are the same as the maps from the AP in larger format, so whether the folio is worth $15 plus shipping is really a matter of opinion and personal choice. If you want large poster maps badly enough, then yes. If they aren't that important to you, then no.

Fair enough.

But yes, this product is mostly reprints of key maps from the Rise of the Runelords adventure path. It also includes two poster maps, one of the town of Sandpoint and one of the region of Varisia. Both maps are the same as the maps in the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide... but four times as large.

Wow, fast reply for a Saturday night - shouldn't you be gaming or something? Anyway, thanks, that's just what I wanted to know - large scale poster maps definitely make this worth buying.

Ebolav wrote:

I agree with prev posts-is this just repackaged maps from the first 6 adventures? if so, what is the point when i could just print them off my pdfs?

Printing them probably costs more in ink than just buying the folio, for starters...

Not if you have a colour laser printer. I'm still a little unclear about this product too. Your reply suggests that this folio is just reprinted maps from the RotRL adventure path. Is there anything different about them (i.e. larger format, etc.) that would entice someone who can cheaply print the pdf maps to buy this?

A while ago there was a thread about using inkjet printers to make your own maps/scenes. There was a link to a company that had an amazing map/scene/dungeon with a dragon and its dungeon. It was huge and awesome. They also had an amazing ship to print and construct.

Anyway I lost the link to their site and cannot find it for the life of me. I have searched the archives and just can't find it.

Help me, Paizo Community, you're my only hope!

You might be thinking of Worldsworksgames

Thanks very much for your suggestions. I'd very much like to be able to use Pathfinder AP's, so I don't want Ptolus to be too far off the beaten path. I think I will go with SirUrza's first idea, and put Ptolus at the mouth of a river on the Inner Sea.

Cheers!

I was thinking of running a Ptolus campaign and would like to set in Golarion. Does anyone have any suggestions on where the city would fit best in the world and not conflict with anything?

Max damage seems a little underwhelming, but I like crits on a 20 and no confirmation roll.

Not nearly as underwhelming as confirming your crit then dealing 2 points of damage. Now that's anticlimactic.

Toon: any game in which you can whip out an Acme Disintegrating Gun (when it disintegrates, it disintegrates) deserves at least an honourable mention.

Cyberpunk, IMHO.

Traveller: Where else can you die during character creation?

Cant wait, but I cant paint either, tried once in the distant past but wasnt good at it but now I guess Ill have to try again, anyone know of a good page with tips on how to paint miniatures and what products to use for painting?

There are a series of articles on the Reaper website called The Craft that are pretty good. Once you learn a few of the basic techniques all you need is practice and anyone can become a good painter.

Sounds a lot like the 1e. AD+D, philosophically.

Its AD&D using the d20 system and the super-cool SEIGE engine resolution mechanic. Basically C&C is everything I love about D&D with none of the things I hate. I feel like I've come home.

Yep, D6 Fantasy is a great system. I loved the system back when WEG's Star Wars RPG came out in the '80's and I started working on making a fantasy game based on those rules. My effort petered out after a while and I never finished, so I was thrilled when the D6 system was revived a few years ago and D6 Fantasy finally saw the light of day.

Some of the things I like best about the game is the wound system - you can even do away with hit points if you want; and I also loved that you can try to do as many things as you want during a round, with each additional action your chance of success for all of them drops by 1d6. The fate/force point mechanic is really cool, and allows characters to pull off some truly jaw-dropping heroic stunts (so THAT'S how you navigate an asteroid field while dodging T.I.E. fighters, and simultaneously calculating the jump to hyperspace...)

Because my favorite D&D publisher sent me a Christmas card. Not friends or loved ones; my favorite D&D publisher.

I just got mine this afternoon - talk about in the nick of time! This is the only Christmas card I got this year, too. The house is full of them but they're all for my wife. None of my friends or family sent me one - now I feel loved :)

My copy just arrived today (talk about great timing - an early Christmas present), so I haven't had a chance to do more than flip through it. I was never a fan of the Against the Giants AD&D modules - I bought them, found them tedious and uninspired and never ran them, so this adventure may not be to my tastes either.

What I did love though was the Hounds of Tindalos. Their write up was fantastic - I love what was done with them.

I also really loved my Paizo Christmas card - it totally made my day. I'll be singing the Goblin Holiday song for the rest of the day :)

No, other classes will never excel at something that is another classes niche. If it is a class ability, you get to add your level to the roll. Also, with the SIEGE mechanic, only activities which would be difficult for you to pull off require a roll. SO, there are some instances where a thief might not require to roll to accomplish something but another class would have to.

Ah, I see. Thanks very much for the clarification. I was under the impression that class level was added to all ability checks - your explanation makes much more sense. Okay, its official now - I love this game; can't wait to try it.

I just bought the player's handbook yesterday, and so far I'm really impressed. I love the elegant simplicity of the SIEGE engine, and I really like how they've handled the races.

It's ironic that Castles and Crusades feels more like D&D to me than 3.x ever did. I think Troll Lords did a marvelous job of blending old-school D&D flavour with d20 system mechanics to create a fast-paced cinematic game. I'm going to finish off my Savage Tide campaign using 3.5, then start Rise of the Runelords using C&C.

I do have a question, though. It seems to me that since characters can attempt to do pretty much anything using the Siege mechanic, it makes most of the class abilities of Rangers, Rogues, and Assassins redundant. For example, anyone can attempt to move silently, and if they have chosen Dex as a prime they can do it at least as well, or better, than someone with the move silently class feature. Are Rangers, Rogues, and Assassins getting badly short-changed or am I missing something? What would be the point of playing one of these classes when a character of any class can perform most of the ranger/rogue/assassin class abilities just as well?

Also, since the prime ability of rangers is strength (the rationale for this is beyond me), and the ranger's class abilities are all Dexterity or Wisdom-based, demi-human rangers, with only 1 extra choice of a prime can only be competent at half of their class abilities, whereas a character of another class, say a cleric, who has chosen Dexterity as a prime will be a more competent in the ranger's niche than an elven ranger would be. This seems very wrong to me.

Simplest way: monk/rogue. Urban ranger from the SRD and Unearthed Arcana could also be a useful consideration.

I agree. Also, the Master Inquisitive prestige class from the Eberron campaign setting book might be appropriate.

Well, I've checked out the Troll Lords website and looked at the starter rules, and I think I might just be a convert. Hopefully Pathfinder AP's won't be too difficult to convert. Thanks everyone - it was this thread that brought C&C to my attention. Now I know what I'm getting myself for Christmas.

I really enjoy C&C for three very big reasons:

1) It's easy to run on the fly. This is very important to me, as my players are famous for doing very unexpected things. Being able to run it off the cuff means I don't have to stop for five minutes to look up things in the rule books, one minute maybe, but never for very long.

Cool. What about statting NPC's? Is it faster than 3rd ed. D&D? I'm shopping for a new system that is easier to run and doesn't take two hours to stat one NPC.

In any event, Lovecraft is a LOT more present in D&D than a lot of people think.

I just wanted to point out that the Lovecraft mythos were included in the first printing of Deities and Demigods, but were removed in subsequent printings for legal reasons. So, clearly Lovecraft was an important enough influence on D&D to include the mythos in one of the first core AD&D books.

I'm thrilled by Eric Mona's comments in his interview with Kobold Quarterly that he wants the Pathfinder setting to reflect the literary influences that made D&D, such as Robert Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith. In my opinion you can NEVER have enough eldritch horrors, insane cultists, or power-mad wizards meddling with "secrets man was not meant to know."

As for Hounds of Tindalos... well I'll get my players started on constructing spherical rooms now, because they aren't going to want to be in rooms with corners once Pathfinder 4 arrives.

The new D&D podcast focusing on 4e features two play-testers characters: a gnome warlock and a human fighter.

Worst podcast ever - it was mostly incoherent babbling and inside jokes. One fellow said "Um.." every second word, which got really annoying. I realize these guys aren't professional broadcasters, but they could have at least made some effort to produce a useful and informative show.

Unlikely. It's harmless, and, as the OP said, will make you say "and this has what to do with the price of tea in China..." The most that can be said, negative or positive, is that it is filler.

It's like Wil Save, but written by a woman, 5 times as long, and without the creepy drawings of Wil.

And you have slog through half of the article before gaming is even mentioned, and then only peripherally. I'm still not sure what the point of this piece was.

This article joins the ranks of Ecology of the Death Knight in the category of "mediocre tripe that wasn't worth the time it took me to read."

Is the digital focus a pro or con for you?
Do you think (as of right now) that you will game other than around a table?

I consider a definite pro. While I much prefer sitting around the gaming table with my friends, rolling dice, and having a great time socializing, after my last cross-country move it took me nearly THREE YEARS to find another group to play with. When I did find other players to game with, lifestyles got in the way of game time - we were all our mid 30's to early 40's with young children. We ended up actually getting together only about three times per year.

So while I don't like the idea of playing D&D on the computer, it beats not playing at all. I'm still very close friends with the guys I started playing with in high school nearly 30 years ago, and would love to get a game going with all of them again, except we are separated by great distances - DI might make that possible.

I've finally gotten a group together that plays every two weeks, but now it looks like another cross-country move might be in my near future. I don't want to go another few years without being able to game, so I will definitely be giving DI a good hard look. (I also like the idea of being able to import maps from adventures in Dungeon magazine onto the game board - that will look much slicker than my crude wet-erase drawings on a battle mat).

I'm thinking that there will be more people who don't make the transition from 3e to 4e that with the previous editions. Back when 3e was announced, there was a building hunger for a new edition, plus WotC did a lot of good work to win over the existing fan base.

Not so much this time around (although there is certainly enthusiasm for 4e). Perhaps as many as 20 to 40% of 3.5 players won't take the jump to 4e, which could represent a sizable market for someone to serve - however a lot depends on how that 20 to 40% breaks down.

You may be right - I'm only guessing that there won't be enough customers left to support a continued 3.5 industry. I might also be underestimating the number of people that will stick with 3.5, because I never made the jump from 3.0 to 3.5 so for me, a new edition is welcome, especially since I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with how cumbersome 3rd edition has become.

I doubt that any companies will continue to support 3.5 once 4th ed. is released. I know that there has been a lot of dissatisfaction with how WotC is handling the 4e release, but I think this is coming from a relatively small but vocal minority of hardcore fans. I doubt the average gamer will be all that upset about the new edition, and there just won't be enough of a support base for any company to profit by continuing to produce 3.5 material.

While I suspect that some people will continue to play 3.5 for a while after the release of 4e, and that some diehards will never give it up, I don't think that last any longer than 2nd ed. did after the release of 3e.

If, on the off chance, 4e totally blows then there might be a market for some sort of 3rd edition - based rules system, such as Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed/Evolved, or Green Ronin's True 20 system. But I think that as of May 2008 the actual Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 will begin its inevitable march into history.

Just my opinion, of course.

Seems to me like they hit the ground crawling with this one. You'd think they would make an effort in the first electronic issue to make us sit up and say, "Wow, I've got to subscribe," not "Wow, this is lackluster."

I don't like online magazines to begin with - I prefer a real magazine in my hands and, as others have pointed out, this wasn't even an online magazine it was an article on a website. I tried increasing the text size so I could read it better, but this just buggered everything up and resulted in text superimposed on top of other text.

I thought the article itself was mediocre. If this is representative of the new Dragon magazine, I'll be passing on it.

Thanks very much for the suggestions, guys, I really appreciate the feedback. I hadn't thought about readied actions - and the bait and ranged attack idea is brilliant. These are nasty little critters! I can't wait to try an encounter with one.

I have a really cool Ethereal Marauder miniature that I want to use in an upcoming encounter, but I can't figure out how their ethereal jaunt ability is supposed to work, and was hoping someone could explain it.

The rules state that the ethereal marauder can shift from the ethereal plane to the material plane as a free action, and shift back again as a move action. Its described tactics are to locate prey, shift to the material plane and bite its prey, then retreat quickly back to the ethereal plane.

So how does anyone ever defeat it? As I understand the rules, it can shift to the material plane, attack, then shift back during its action and no one will ever get a chance to attack it. Since it is only a CR 3 creature the PC's won't have the ability to attack creatures on the ethereal plane, so its safely out of reach during the PC's actions.

I assume I've misinterpreted the rules. Does anyone know how this works?

Thanks,
Sean

Does anyone know of any website where you can download a printable blank map projection for creating campaign maps?

All I've been able to find are maps of Earth, but there must be blank projections available somewhere.

Cheers,
Sean

What would be the best why to add guns into D&D? Nothing to extreme, I thought about using Iron Kingdom’s gun system. Would this work or would the damage out put be too high? Would loading time and loading checks balance out the damage out put? I don’t want guns to edge out bladed weapons or even bows that’s why I’m think the IK’s system might work.

Fizz

I'm not familiar with Iron Kingdom's gun system, but other gun rules I've seen, such as in D20 Modern, Call of Cthulhu, and DM's Guide are not unbalancing at all. If I remember correctly, the damage for black-powder weapons is usually 1d10 to 1d12 and they take approximately 6 rounds to reload. Given that a heavy crossbow can do as much damage every other round, there is no danger of firearms edging out bows or crossbows. About the only real reason to use a firearm is for flavor (e.g. pull out your pistol and fire, then throw it away and draw your sword)