Thevanan Quain

Sebastian, CEO of Hasbro's page

23 posts. Alias of Sebastian (Bella Sara Charter Superscriber).



1 to 50 of 208 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next > last >>
Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Time for a super rookie question. This is my first 2e campaign. How do I calculate XP awards for combat?!??! Help an old timer out, ye lords of the boards!

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Anyone out there using a Kindle Oasis to read Pathfinder pdfs? If so, could I trouble you for some pointers as to how to accomplish this?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

43 people marked this as a favorite.

Thank you for being the reassuring email, the pleasant post, the calming presence in the chaotic anger of the internet that spilled into this forum.

Thank you for the lunch, the office tour, the replacement map when a lamination machine when rogue (or rouge, if you prefer).

Thank you for the kindness, the understanding, the helpfulness, the patience.

Thank you for everything.

You will be missed.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I've sent an email, but haven't received a response to a handful of other prior emails. Can you please cancel my order of the Starfinder Pocket Edition? I need to have it in hand before Thanksgiving, and I can't seem to connect with anyone who can expedite the shipping. As a result, I am ordering off of Amazon instead. Thanks.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I’m seriously bummed about my pathfinder society experience here at Paizcon. I take some of the blame for not signing up for events in advance, but given that tickets are sold at the door, I didn’t realize it was 100% mandatory. I came with 2 boys, ages 14 and 12, just getting into the game and excited to play. Did they get to play? I’m glad you asked...

Day 1, I show up in the morning and there’s only 1 table with 2 seats open. That’s fine, the boys play, I sit and watch.

In the evening, my daughter decides she wants to play. So I go down and explain. I have three kids, very excited to play, plus myself, which makes 4 - basically a table ready to go can they please make sure that we have a GM for us in the morning. I’m told I can’t sign up in advance, but not a big deal. They will find us a game in the morning.

We arrive in the morning. Nope, no game for us. Can they ask a GM to come help (maybe one of you lovely scheduling people can help)? Nope. Can you maybe see if some of he other players will switch tables so that we have 4 seats? Nope, this other group has 4 people who want to be together.

Okay, fine, we will take 2 seats at 2 tables. After we’ve begun, I learn that the boys are replaying the same scenario they played in yesterday.

Fine. Day 3, we show up again (back down to 3). No seats available unless we want to play the same game the boys played the past 2 times.

I guess we play our own game. Im not sure what I was expecting, but some support would have been nice. Especially when I’m showing up every single morning and getting the same dog and pony show about how there are no seats.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

26 people marked this as a favorite.

Greetings, friends. It is me, your magical pony friend, back here at Paizo, basking in the warm glow of the flames and heat created by the launch of a new edition.

Now, as we're all aware, gaming was a much better pastime back in [insert the year in which you started] and has only recently been ruined by [PF2e/Millenials/4e/The Lack of Support for Eberron]. Rather than debate the future of this godless dystopia we all currently inhabit, I wanted to extend a hand to all my former comrades in arms and accursed foes (you vile scum sucking bastards), and welcome you to sit here, have a virtual beverage and slice of pie, and enjoy the pain and anguish of Those Damned Kids fighting the same war we once partook in ages ago.

So, hey, long time, no see. I hope the wife/husband and kids/pets are well.

Edit: Sorry friends. I thought we could have something nice and friendly, but I forgot how edition wars work. Kiss the spouse and kick the dog for me. I'll be back when the sun sets in the east and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. (Okay, I'll probably be back sooner than that, but mostly to talk about Fallout.)

Fare ye well, edition warriors.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

With so many books, it's difficult to impossible to reference or use even a fraction of what Paizo has put out. So, I'm curious - how do you actually use your Pathfinder library as a practical/logistical matter?

Do you pick a handful for use in a particular campaign?

Do you use your pdfs to print out the bits you want to use?

What books do you bring with you every time you DM (or play)?

Do you just use the PRD and don't bother with the books?

What hardcover books do you use the most (other than the CRB and Bestiary)?

What softcover books do you use the most?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Simple question for you Paizoians - when you think of the X-Men, which team is the first that comes to mind (and/or, if you prefer, which team was in the first X-Men comic you read)?

The original X-Men
The All New X-Men circa the 1970/80s (Cylcops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Wolvie are shoe-ins, but what about Banshee? Kitty Pryde?)
The 90s X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, Wolvie and Gambit)
Etc...

For me, although I had encountered the All New X-Men in the Spider-Man cartoon (and I doubt I'm alone in that), the first comics I read were around the time of the mutant massacre. As a result, I tend to think of the X-men in their Outback days (Rogue, Dazzler, Original and Much Better Psylocke, Storm (with newly restored powers!), Wolvie, Colossus, Havok, and Longshot).

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Does anyone have a recommendation for a Paizo AP volume, module or adventure from back in the Dungeon magazine days (3.5 or newer - I don't have the energy for a deep conversion from 3.0 or 2e/1e) for 12th-13th level characters?

I'm mostly looking for adventures you've run, read or played in that you enjoyed, so please don't worry about the party composition or playstyle. However, we have ongoing campaigns in various states of play for Kingmaker, Serpent's Skull and Shards of Sin, so I'd rather not use anything from those APS.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

1 person marked this as a favorite.

We just introduced a new 11th level Warpriest to our party last night, and I was DMing, so this feedback may be a little vague as I'm not on the front line of the mechanics. We are playing Kingmaker (more or less), and the character didn't see much in-game action last night.

However, one thing we noticed right away was how poorly the abilities granted stacked with the magic item package the party had. We aren't dedicated min-maxers, but we do have a handful of crafting feats in the party. Each party member has a ring of protection +2 or greater and a stat bump item with at least a +2 enchancement bonus. As we were trying to pick appropriate domains for the warpriest to fit him into the party, we kept running into domain abilities that were ineffectual for the party level - any bonus the warpriest could provide did not stack with and thus did not do anything to the party members with magic items (which was effectively all party members).

This may be an intentional design choice, and it might be that these abilities are intentionally skewed to be effective at low levels, but become less useful as the character advances. However, other abilities in that same slot for different domains continued to be effective/useful (e.g., one ability would've let the character fly) even at the levels of the party.

I realize character generation is probably on the border of what constitutes playtesting, but the initial experience with making a high level Warpriest is that it has some abilities that are dead-ends/traps for a typically equipped party.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'd really like to discuss Game of Thrones (the show), and the existing Game of Thrones thread keeps getting choked with spoilers. Rather than try to keep fighting the tide in that thread, I figured I'd try and start a new thread with the express purpose of having a place to discuss the show without the risk of reading a casual reference to the Ninja Attack in Book 4 or the fact that Jon Snow is actually Kaiser Sose.

Just for the sake of clarity, stating that character X eats pumpkins in King's Landing in the future is a spoiler - part of the charm/horror of this show is the fact that any character can die at any time. Knowing that character X survives to eat pumpkins at King's Landing takes away the edge from any potential life-threatening scene featuring character X, and those references should be avoided at all costs.

To help keep this thread on topic and safe for consumption, I'd recommend flagging any post that includes a book spoiler as being off-topic.

If you're looking for a thread with a mix of book and television spoilers, I'd recommend this one here:

Sean Bean heads cast for HBOs A Game of Thrones

Thanks for your cooperation.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I played Pathfinder last night with a party of three/four characters - an 11th level sorcerer, his cleric companion (~8th level?), a 10th level barbarian, and a 10th level fighter/rogue. They were tracking a 13th level barbarian who'd managed to raise 16 skeletal warriors using a magical artifact sword. The players are smart, so they broke out the old Invisible Flying Party chestnut - everyone in the group was suited up with Greater Invisibility and Fly. Here's how combat went:

Me: The skeleton archers attack!
*roll Perception check*
*pause to discuss whether Perception check is passive or active, try to determine modifiers to Perception check, ultimately conclude that the DC to find the location of an invisible opponent is DC 40, but with a -20 to the DC because the person is in combat*
*roll miss chance twice for every skeleton (two iterative attacks)*
*roll attack and damage for each attack that goes through*
*remind targets to make Fly checks*
*targets make Fly checks*

And so on.

After two hours of grinding combat, the party won the battle, but also defeated my desire to ever run a game in which the party gets to 10th level.

I'm not sure I have a point, except to say how much I hate the invisible flying party and high level play generally. Any encounter with an opponent without a ranged attack or ability to fly, might as well read "give PCs xp, don't bother rolling dice." (This applies even in dungeons because the sorcerer has a spell to create a pit beneath a foe, trapping them and removing them from combat unless they have a ranged attack, a fly or climb speed, or awesome climb skill).

Again, I don't really have a point to all of this, I just wanted to whine.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Saw it, generally liked it, but...

You know that part in X-Men 3 where Wolverine is sitting by 45,000 hypodermic needles full of anti-mutant-power-serum and, rather than using one to subdue Jean Grey and stopping all that Phoenix s&&*, he stabs her?

Same problem. I know it misses the point thematically speaking, but for f!+*'s sake, if a future version of you has a gun, and your only option to stop him is to inflict harm upon yourself (aka, you shoot yourself in the chest to kill him), why not take a half step instead and blow your hand off. Uh oh! No hand = dropped gun = mom lives, kid lives, kill future Bruce Willis and Original Bruce Willis saves the cheerleader and world.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I'm looking for some thoughts on how to deal with a situation. Let me start with some facts:

1. I'm running a Paizo module, which shall remain nameless due to spoiler concerns. Thus, any advice that begins with "you should only include outsiders in encounters that limit the effectiveness of Pro Evil" is a non-starter. The monsters are where they are and I don't want to move them for the sake of nerfing a spell.

2. The spell itself is here (with some bolding done by me for relevance):

Spoiler:

School abjuration [good]; Level cleric 1, paladin 1, sorcerer/wizard 1

Casting Time 1 standard action

Components V, S, M/DF

Range touch

Target creature touched

Duration 1 min./level (D)

Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance no; see text

This spell wards a creature from attacks by evil creatures, from mental control, and from summoned creatures. It creates a magical barrier around the subject at a distance of 1 foot. The barrier moves with the subject and has three major effects.

First, the subject gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC and a +2 resistance bonus on saves. Both these bonuses apply against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures.

Second, the subject immediately receives another saving throw (if one was allowed to begin with) against any spells or effects that possess or exercise mental control over the creature (including enchantment [charm] effects and enchantment [compulsion] effects, such as charm person, command, and dominate person. This saving throw is made with a +2 morale bonus, using the same DC as the original effect. If successful, such effects are suppressed for the duration of this spell. The effects resume when the duration of this spell expires. While under the effects of this spell, the target is immune to any new attempts to possess or exercise mental control over the target. This spell does not expel a controlling life force (such as a ghost or spellcaster using magic jar), but it does prevent them from controlling the target. This second effect only functions against spells and effects created by evil creatures or objects, subject to GM discretion.

Third, the spell prevents bodily contact by evil summoned creatures. This causes the natural weapon attacks of such creatures to fail and the creatures to recoil if such attacks require touching the warded creature. Summoned creatures that are not evil are immune to this effect. The protection against contact by summoned creatures ends if the warded creature makes an attack against or tries

3. The dungeon the party entered has 4-5 encounters against evil outsiders. Of these, 1 has ranged attacks that can be used against the party. The remainder are all melee based with natural attacks.

The dilemna is this: is there anything I can do, within the rules, to limit the effectiveness of Pro Evil and/or enable the monsters to attack the PCs. I'm not out to screw the PCs over - Pro Evil is an awesome spell, they had the foresight to learn and prepare it in an appropriate situation, and I don't want to penalize that. However, I'm concerned that nearly half the encounters in the dungeon will be bypassed and pose no threat due to this spell (and its big brother, Magic Circle Against Evil, which the sorcerer has as a bloodline spell and can cast it in nearly ever encounter).

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Inception is in HBO's rotation these days, and is one of those movies that must be watched when encountered. As such, I've watched various parts of it 2-3 times in the past week or so. The last time I watched it, I noticed a line from Arthur to Ariadne explaining the function of the totems, which boiled down to:

"The totem let's you know if you are in someone else's dream."

Note what the line does not say: The totem does not indicate whether you are in your own dream.

This also explains why it's so important that no one else touch your totem - much like Saito's carpet in the initial sequence, the details of the totem are impossible for a third party dreamer to simulate. This obviously breaks down if the totem is handled by a third party, because that experience would allow them to recreate the totem in the dream world.

Now, granted, Leo later makes the broader statement alluded to above (the totem indicates whether you are in any dream), but, my assertion is that Leo is wrong because he has "forgotten something he once knew," i.e., that the totem only tells you if you are in someone else's dream, not your own. Whether or not Leo's totem stops spinning is irrelevant if he is in his own dream - he knows how long it typically spins before falling, as does his subconcious, and the top actually reinforces the false belief that he is awake rather than exposing the truth.

Mind you, I don't think the above is any type of definitive proof that the entire/most of the movie is in Leo's dreams (Nolin's gone out of his way to say the movie is ambiguous, and to cut it so as to be ambiguous, so anyone who claims to be able to defintively prove it one way or the other is full of s$++), but that line reinforced my conclusion that Leo is in a dream during most of the movie.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

What is it all a boot?

Dark Archive Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm sure the following doesn't work or make sense for a variety of reasons, but I thought I'd toss the thought out there anyway...

One option that would be interesting is the ability to be the GM in the Pathfinder MMO. Obviously, this couldn't be the same as being a real GM due to the inherent griefer potential and undesirability of granting god-like powers to some random player, but within certain constraints, perhaps it could work.

As an example, suppose the newb area has a goblin tribe nearby. Typically, these would be scripted/AI controlled monsters. The tribe itself would be static - each time a player comes, the same goblins are there to kill upon respawn, they have the same tactics, and nothing changes.

So, suppose that the GM player controls the goblin tribe. He plays a game that is more akin to a RTS, sending out the goblins to gather treasure and expand the goblin village. When adventurers attack, he rounds up the nearest goblins and sends them off to fight. If the goblins win, they level up a little, and potentially steal the PCs gear. This makes the goblins slightly tougher and more challenging, provides a little more thrust behind random encounters (PCs encounter goblins because the goblin player is sending them off to find worg puppies, for example), and provides for a style of PVP that's a little more abstract and less personal than the typical MMO.

It could be expanded further into module type content. Imagine entering an instance with a GM (who must be approved by the players entering such instance) based upon a module. The GM sees the entire dungeon from the perspective of the monsters and antagonists. If the players talk to an NPC, the GM chooses among the dialogue tree options available to that NPC. The encounter can still be resolved, but it's more dynamic now that there's another human on the other end.

I realize there are a number of problems with this even at the theoretical level - it basically requires programming a second game (the RTS) on top of the first game, would need to be monitored closely for the potential grief abuse, and the number of players who could be a GM is inherently finite outside of instances (how many goblin tribes can possibly be located by the newb area?), but, given as how I'm a super expert on all things MMO by virtue of posting here, I thought I'd run it up the flagpole anyway.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Last night, I ran a solo game in which the PC (a 10th level barbarian) managed to become infected with lycanthropy through an amazing series of bad rolls (including rolling a 1 on a Fortitude save, which was the only way he could've failed it). On top of that, the PC challenged the leader of the werewolf pack for leadership, defeated the werewolf, and ate his heart (which the werewolves generally acknowledge as the appropriate way to take leadership of the tribes).

I want to play by RAW as much as possible, but this has such interesting story potential that it would be awesome to see it play out. By RAW, lycanthropy is not that difficult for a 10th level character to fix (assuming he can find a 12th level cleric to cast heal/remove disease). Also by RAW, the PC should go into a murderous rage each full moon and should be an NPC. Clearly, if I want to enable the PC to continue as a werewolf, I'm going to need to bend/break RAW, and I was hoping to get the thoughts of you fine folks on the most interesting/least broken way of doing that.

My current thinking is to have lycanthropy start out as the by the book version (PC loses control on the night of a full moon), and then provide the PC with a path to gain control of it. Mechanically, my thought would be to treat the abilities he's gained in a similar way to level adjustments - he's effectively gained x ECL's from contracting lycanthropy. However, to gain control of it, he would need to spend xp to remove the ECL's (using an optional rule from the 3.5 PHBII).

Any thoughts/advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. (Arguments about how I'm doing it wrong and ruining the game for everyone else, not so much.)

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

6 people marked this as a favorite.

I finally got around to flipping through my big box of Paizo goodies and was much pleased with this month's offerings. Particularly Jade Regeant, which, despite my misgivings on Asian flavor, looks really great.

But, I wanted to give a special shout-out to the new format features in the book. The short summary at the beginning of the chapter along with the various level progressions is a wonderful addition. I am constantly hunting for that type of information, and having it so easily accessible is nice.

Second, the magic items broken out into their own section is also a nice touch. It makes it much easier to find a unique item from an adventure without hunting through it trying to remember where the item is to be found. Plus, it makes it easier to use them outside of the particular AP in which they appear. Again, a nice upgrade in usability.

Finally, the real showstopper - the layered pdf maps! Maps with the DM information removed has been on my wish list forever, and having it in this format is great.

Excellent work, Paizo!

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Oh wait...it's me...

Nevermind.

P.S. I hate you all and hope PaizoCon sucked.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

3 people marked this as a favorite.

+1

A wordier version of +1 for those who aren't into the whole brevity thing...:
I am the biggest dominion addict these days. If you haven't played it, I recommend giving it a try. Games take 20-40 minutes and it is easy to pick up.* It scratches a similar itch as magic in a lot of ways, but is faster and friendlier.

This expansion is good (it's been available for play on the unofficial browser version for a few weeks), and has a standout card similar to goons and city - tournament. It lets you gain very powerful prize cards by revealing a province in hand. There are only five prizes total (they don't count as a pile for ending the game), and include things like the princess (bridge, but lowers costs by $2) and trusty steed (choose two: +2 actions, +2 cards, +$2, gain four silvers and put them on top of your deck).

*The base set is the best place to start. This is an expansion, and I don't think it includes the coin or victory point cards, which are needed for play.

A more in depth review and discussion of the cards on a dominion blog, for those who know I'm full of skittles...

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Am I the only one who would like to have a single volume for each base class in the pathfinder campaign setting line? Something the size of the racial books would be ideal. With APG, UM, and UC coming out, I find myself referencing 2-4 books for all of the rules on any particular character class. I'd love to have a single book with all the rules for, say, the barbarian, which includes all the archetypes from the APG, UM, and UC, the various favored class bonuses for the barbarian, and maybe a barbarian-centric character sheet at the end.

If it could be kept under $15, it seems like it would be a great thing for a player to buy (particularly a player who only has the core rules and isn't interested in purchasing the other hardcovers).

I realize that there's a significant contingent of gamers who balk at ever paying for any type of reprint, but to me, the portability of a single volume, the ease of use for a new player, and a low price point would make such a product more than worth it.

Currently, I print out the pages from my various Paizo product pdfs for the class I am playing and assemble them in a three ring binder. It's ugly, it's inconvenient, and poorly organized. I'd love to have a better option, and would pay accordingly.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I'm finally getting a chance to play some PFRPG and am tossing around the idea of a barbarian/alchemist focused on mutagens and rage. I'm hoping you fine folks might help me with some questions, such as...

Will my barbarian rage stat bumps stack with my mutagen stat bumps?

If I take the fied totem, lesser barbarian rage power and grow horns, will that be a primary attack even if I attack with claws and bite from feral mutagen? Here's the text of the ability:

Fiend Totem, Lesser (Su): While raging, the barbarian grows
a pair of large horns, gaining a gore attack. This attack is a
primary attack (unless she is also attacking with weapons,
in which case it is a secondary attack) and is made at the
barbarian’s full base attack bonus (–5 if it is a secondary
attack). The gore attack deals 1d8 points of piercing damage
(1d6 if Small) plus the barbarian’s Strength modifier (1/2 if it
is a secondary attack).

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I just noticed that the iconic party in the art for Carrion Crown consists entirely of female iconics. I think RoTRL was 75% female, but am I correct that this is the first ladies only adventuring party in a Paizo AP?

In any event, I wanted to give out a +1 to you good folks at Paizo. I remember back when the iconics were being announced that it was mentioned that having half of them be female would enable Paizo to have an AP in the future that featured an all female party, and here it is.

For some reason, at that time the idea of a ladies only party seemed...I don't want to say strange, but definitely novel and atypical. Now that it's here, I almost didn't notice it because I was so used to seeing these characters kick ass and take names; their gender is entirely besides the point. The Carrion Crown party doesn't feel like a gimmick, it feels like a part of the identity of the game. The fact that Paizo has refreshed the adventuring party in such a subtle way and made it feel like it's always been that way is gratifying.

Thanks, Paizo.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Who here likes Killing? Is Killing good for the community or bad for the community?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Is that even a real thing?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Sorry if there's already an answer to this, but what is the mechanical incentive to expand the kingdom? My group claimed two hexes, drove their consumption to zero, and have spent almost 3 years in-game building their capital city. They don't see any point claiming additional hexes because doing so would increase their command DC an not provide any significant benefits. Are we missing something?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Having a discussion with a player about whether or not minor items can be sold out of a slot if they are less than 4k gps. He's been pointing to the fact that there are different DCs for a sale based on whether the item is minor/moderate/major items. I think that's meant to cover those minor items that are worth more than 4k.

I'm pretty sure this has been answered before, but can't seem to find the thread. Any help would be appreciated.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

This thread is for the many posters on the board who are faithful (and willing to share their faith) to describe how they found their faith, the difference it has made in their lives, or any similar stories about how they, individually, have been bettered by such faith.

My hope is threefold:

1. That this thread will be a welcome and warming counterpoint to the various religious threads on the boards.

2. That explaining faith through personal stories will grant those of us lacking faith with a better understanding of what it means and avoid getting bogged down in arguments about historicity and such.

3. That a thread like this, which emphasizes the positive in faith, will do more to foster mutual understanding among the community than tighter moderation of the other religious threads.

I consider many of you to be friends, and hope this helps you find that you are not alone in this community. I sincerely look forward to your stories.

Who knows, maybe I'll be sufficiently moved to abandon the dark side...

Thank you.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I didn't want to clog up the judges feedback thread, so I thought I'd create a place to say thank you for providing the judge's comments.

Thank you.

Edit: and, now that I'm not rushing to finish typing to answer the phone, let me add that I value the feedback you provided and appreciate the level of thought that went into judging my item. What's always insightful about contests like this (or even the submission process for Dragon/Dungeon) is how much harder it is to do this for a living than it looks.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Interesting tidbit to run through the usual set of debate/qualifiers (e.g., does not include online revenue, sources may not be accurate, etc.), but, still, our good friend and RPG Superstar Judge casually dropped the following bomb in his ENWorld column:

Ryan Dancey wrote:


But there is a silver lining in every cloud. Pathfinder from Paizo couldn’t exist without the OGL and the D20 System Reference Document. And according to my industry sources, it’s outselling Dungeons & Dragons a feat (no pun intended) I would have considered almost impossible 10 years ago. Furthermore the older generation of tabletop RPG players have been asserting their own passion through the “Old School Renaissance”, essentially rebuilding a very frayed social network around a particular style of play that the industry hasn’t well served for nearly 25 years using the OGL and the various Reference Documents to reverse engineer games in the style of the 70’s and early 80s.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/columns/299860-4-hours-w-rsd-who-am-i.html

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I just downloaded Game Dev Story for my iPhone and am having the hardest time putting it down. It's a simulation/resource management type game that puts you in the role of a small company developing video games. You get to choose the type of game you create (e.g., I've been making Robot Puzzle games lately), hire and level-up employees, etc. As you play, new consoles are released (e.g., the Intendro Game Kid) and you can develop new games for those.

And, it's only $0.99.

Anyone else have a game they want to recommend?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I probably make this joke at every single session when the PCs approach any potential confrontation by charging in and fighting. I try to build encounters that can be resolved (or at least made easier) through non-combat efforts or good tactics, and sometimes my players go that route, but not that often.

That got me to thinking - not about what I can do to force them to play this way, but how I can approach it more from their perspective. My usual rule of thumb is that if the players come up with a clever plan, I will try to accommodate it even if it deviates from my thoughts on how the session might play out.

To flip this on its head, I'd like to hear what you, the wonderful Paizo community, have found most facilitates planning and strategic combat when you are not behind the DM's screen. What has your DM done to provide opportunities to use brains over brawn? What plan do you always dream of executing, but can never find the right scenario to put it in place?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Is it just me, or do most parties insist on killing every single solitary creature, down to the last CR 1/2 monster, in combat?

I don't award xp solely for killing things (I give partial to full xp if the foe is driven off but will come back, and full xp if the foe will never return), so I don't think the incentives are wrong.

From a player perspective, I understand the logic - even a weak and pitiful fleeing minion can alert other creatures to the party and make their lives miserable.

But, my god, it is the most boring, game grinding to a halt element in our combats and I don't know what to do to make it stop. I suppose I could always hold back some nasty critter and have it pounce on the lone persuing PC, but that doesn't really address my major problems (see below). I frequently just say "okay, fine, you chase it and kill it after a few rounds," which solves the problem in that instance, but isn't always the best solution. I could have the monsters never flee, but that strikes me as pretty stupid for most creatures.

Here's why I hate it::

1. It usually involves going off the map. This is really a logistical challenge. When the PCs (or the foe) ends up off the current board, I often need to rearrange tactiles, redraw the map, and generally spend an inordinate amount of time for a foe that only has a small handful of hp and will be taken out with a single shot.

2. It's at the end of combat, when combat (and frequently the session) is winding down. It cuts short the thrill of victory and replaces it with extra pointless grinding.

3. It rarely accomplishes anything. The fleeing foe was defeated, hunting it down and killing it doesn't do anything.

4. It leaves most players bored. There are usually only 1-2 PCs with the speed and proximity to chase a foe. Everyone else just sits around, waiting for more of the map to be drawn so that the poor creature can be put out of its misery.

By way of background, here's what inspired the post::

The PCs spotted a single member of a boggard patrol in the water, about 50' from shore. They opened fire, and it fled, along with the rest of its companions. The druid wildshaped into a giant octopus to pursue, the summoner started spamming dolphins. Combat moved about 150' from the shore. A 1 hour battle ensued which managed to touch upon a ton of complicated rules elements (underwater combat, wildshaping damage, grappling, poison, concealment from an ink cloud). One player was involved (and, as an octopus, had 9 attacks to resolve each turn). The patrol that he went after consisted of a half dozen regular boggards and a ranger. The game came grinding to a halt for everyone else and generally sucked.

I don't lay this at the feet of my players - I think what they are doing in launching pursuit is probably a good strategy. I just want it to suck less, or have some faster way to resolve it, or a suggestion for a trap or monster that I can spring on the pursuing PC to guarantee a fast death that underlines the truism of "never split the party."

Okay, the last one is just frustration speaking, but that's probably where I will go next if I can't think of anything better.


Oleg and Svetlana remain consonant hosts, and keep the single large table filled with food the entire evening. As Thaddeus describes the party's adventures (with frequent interruptions and embellishments by Bonfo, almost 30% of which are true) to the rapt attention of Sheriff Garess and his men. The Sheriff relates his own recent adventures, including his run in with a pack of hungry wolves that took a big bite out of his arm. "Ve should vatch him," says Sneeg, "zats how verevolves are created."

Delia wrote:

Delia has a plus 6 in every knowledge category.  What does she know

about lycanthropy and how long it takes to take hold and what signs to
notice it?  She offers to take a look at the sheriffs wound as well.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Frank.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

As if I weren't angry and bitter enough...

I just learned that my original undergrad institution (Oberlin College, go...uh...ruskies? The Flying Stalins? The Armpit Weasels?), for which I never had great love, has added a new themed hall. When I attended, the theme halls were devoted to various fringe politic/sexual identity/ethnic groups - which amounts to a whole lotta nothing for a non-communist straight white male.

Today, I randomly find a link indicating that they now have a Sci-Fi Hall. It's even located in my former dorm!

Bastards! Where was that option 15 years ago when I was just trying to find living space without group showers, naked sing-alongs, and vegan food?

Oh well, I guess the moral of the story is that I should've just gone to an engineering school, where I understand all of the dorms were (and are) effectively sci-fi halls.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Here's a new thread for people to debate the "merits" of ninjas, samurai, and katanas, including a discussion of whether they even can be adequately and accurately expressed using PFRPG and human language (I personally think that the only way to really display the full awesomeoness of the concepts is with interpretive dance in front of a blue screen filled with robots).

Go wild. Go crazy. Just go away from the Ultimate Combat thread.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Ahhhh, scenic Indiana, the truck stop of America.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

You go now to a better place.

At least I hope. Probably Gary just dismembered you and threw you in a ditch.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

One thing that I was wishing Paizo had was some type of concise reference volume for certain issues that come up a lot in regards to players. A good example would be mounted combat, or wildshaping. A book that had all the mounted combat rules, a mounted combat FAQ, mount stats, mounted combat feats, mount equipment, etc. would be very useful.

This points to another issue, and it may be that I'm unique in this regard. It seems like reprinting of material (or reprinting of material with a small amount of new material) is something that makes most people unhappy. Personally, I see a lot of virtue in such a product. It'd be nice to have a concise reference volume for a particular topic, especially something I could recommend for players who may not have the vast trove of resources that I do as a subscriber.

A racial book would be another good example. I'd love to have a short volume on elves that includes much of the material from Elves of Golarion and reprints the elven specific feats/abilities from APG, any elven specific equipment from AA or other books, etc. I'd also love to have such a book for each class. That way, when I have a new player, I can say "Here's the elf book and the druid book, they have all the rules you need. Buy a copy or borrow mine."

If those books were $10-$20 a pop, I think they'd be snapped up by my players in a heartbeat. I know everyone fears rules bloat, which is why I would lean towards more reprinting and less new material.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I've gotten a handful of Paizo map packs, but have a game tomorrow afternoon and was hoping to find something a little more generic that I could print up. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm not looking for anything too complicated, just, say, a 10x10 card with a grid and some forest terrain on it.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Best.

Show.

Ever.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I'm curious about this. I understand why you need to lock in the favored class itself at 1st level, but why can't you change the benefit from level to level (e.g., pick extra hp the first few levels, then switch to extra skill point thereafter)? Is this just to make it easier to verify if a character was properly built?

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Now that PaizoCon 2010 is over, it's time to start planning for PaizoCon 2011. And that means those of you who couldn't make it this year had better start saving up and blocking out time to make it to 2011.

In particular, everyone's favorite warwoof was greatly missed. Be on notice Heathy, you will be drafted into attending next year.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Okay, so I've barely skimmed it, but still, I love this book.

Excellent work guys.

1 to 50 of 208 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next > last >>