Small Attention Span's page

It's been a long time since I last posted on these forums, but I've been meaning to start again for some time. In the tradition of Kevin Andrew Murphy's Pathfinder Poetry, I wanted to add my own work to the mix.

This particular post, and those to follow, are about the lives of NPCs, from their journals and forgotten diaries. Here's the first. I hope you all enjoy.

From the journals of Telar, second son of Aer, servant to the Arclords

I’ve a gem behind my eyes,
Between the halves of my brain.
A birthright, a wonder of medicine,
A source of power.
With it I see distant shores,
And devils in black castles.
There’s my sister’s soul in the Wastes.

The lightning storms arc through her.
Her eyes are burning green.
My jewel’s a faded blue,
And rarely does she forgive my gaze.

At the edge of the deadlands,
Where my father could not find me,
I called her years ago.
I sought her, blue eyes straining.
The anger in the green faded slow
Gave way to something the gem wouldn’t see.
A flash of light; she was gone,
Black ash and emerald dust
Are all she left behind.

As much as I hate to have Carrion Crown be the first Pathfinder AP I don't finish, I can't swing continuing financially at the moment. If I get back on my feet, I'll be back, but until then, I have to stop.

Thanks

Hello everyone, names John/Steven R. Schutt (depending on which name I give the publisher). You might have seen my stuff on NevermetPress.com and Weredragon Magazine #1 (my adventure was the big one, with the Otanshu).

Oh, and I want to write a super adventure. So yay for that! However, I don’t want to write one that sucks or one that no one would have any interest in, so I thought I’d ask the wonderful and experienced gamers on these boards for their opinion on my ideas.

To begin, I’m not asking for anything but words. This isn’t patronage, since I don’t think I have nearly the clout to even try it, and it’s not something I even want money for. I’ll probably finance it out of my own pocket (though that’ll be an interesting trip, seeing as I’m broke). Your opinion is all I need.

Below I’ve presented one possible super adventures. Take a look, if you could, and tell me what you think. Anything is great. A word or two is appreciated, more words more so. Tell me also if the word count is wonky, so I can adjust it to better fit my proposal. Granted, of course, that things are subject to change in the writing process.

Finally, all of these are probably going to be written with Pathfinder RPG rules, so if I ever get around to finishing one, I’ll need to sign that little contract Paizo has up on this site.

I plan on putting more ideas up as they come to me, but for now, take a look at this.

And I don't know which forum to put this in, so it went here. Mr. Wertz or the Postmonster (or whoever has the power of post moving) can move it where it belongs.

Yes? Good? On we go!

Rupture of the Tower of Valneeth
Level: 12th-16th
Length: ~50,000 words
Setting: Generic Fantasy

None know where the Tower of Valneeth came from, who built it, or why, but all are sure of one thing: it is the key to the lock of something unimaginable.

Some time in the past, after Valneeth’s construction but before history began, a citadel grew up around its strange, adamantine base. Nothing ever breached the walls of the citadel, which seemed built of the same material as the tower. However, when the adamantine’s sheen fades and the walls of the citadel crack, the world takes notice. When a strange mist begins pouring from the cracks, warping reality around it, a crack team of mercenary mages give everything they have into somehow containing the mist. Their efforts hold of the smoke for a month, while the citadel walls crumble, releasing the warped bodies of the guardians of Valneeth. The PCs tangle with several of these monsters as they travel through what should be serene countryside. Farmsteads are razed and covered in flames of indescribable color. Trails of blood lead towards the citadel, and an army of all races and creeds seeks to hold off the swarm of reality-warped monsters.
The party, along with several others, are sent into the Citadel to investigate while the reality warped creatures battle the main force outside. Within the citadel, the party and their companions face horrid aberrations and constructs warped by Valneeth’s breath. Fighting their way to the tower itself, a huge, multi-locked puzzle-door bars their way. The clues lie scattered throughout the citadel, hidden in simple items of living. Beyond the doors a sea of liquid malevolence waits, and in the sky above eight strange apparatuses hand, chains extending from them towards a central figure: Valneeth.
With his infinite power, even bound as he is, Valneeth summons the party and their surviving companions before his face and entreats them to reinforce the bindings in three of the eight strange devices. He does not want freedom, for he knows that his freedom means the death of untold billions. Far from benevolent, Valneeth relishes dominating a world, and feels that his imprisonment is a far better way of controlling people than wantonly destroying them or throwing warriors at them. He tells the party that their first mission, the repair of the Godlink Binding, the strange object directly behind him, takes them into the depths of the sea, where a strange creature spawned from Valneeth’s flesh holds the needed part. Second, he says, takes them into his mind, where he does not have high hopes for their survival, but desires it greatly. Last, the party must edge the path between dimensions and go to the Fundamental Holdfast, which hold all reality in place. Only there can they repair the final apparatus and seal the bindings once and for all. Unfortunately, the contents Holdfast remain unknown even to Valneeth, and once the time comes to enter it, he fears something far worse than even himself awaits.
He could not be more right.

I hope it's not to late to mention this, but I received neither Pathfinder 20 nor Pathfinder 21 in my mail. Been waiting forever, as this message suggests.

Any help is greatly appreciated, O Customer Service Agents!

I ordered this around the 25th of last month, and it's still pending. Is it close to being shipped, or should I sit on my duff and grow a patience muscle?

I'm trying to get the math right, since I know that getting it wrong leads to bad things. So I'm trying the math on some of the items from the Beta Book but am coming up with incorrect results.

Case in point:

Eyes of Doom
First power: Doom on command- User activated, Spell level times caster level times 2000

or

1 x 11 x 2000 = 22,000

Second Power: Continual Deathwatch- Continuous, Spell level times caster level times 2000

1 x 11 x 2000 = 22,000

Total so far, 44,000

Third Power: Fear once per week- User activated, Spell level times caster level times 2000 = (assuming sorcerer/wizard spell)

4 x 11 x 2000 = 88,000

Total all told, 132,000

Divide by the uses per day (5 divided by 0.14825 or 1/7 = 35) and two additional abilities: multiply by 1.5 twice

Total after final calculation = 8485 gp without decimals.

I know I'm complicating this more than I should, but any help is sincerely appreciated.

It appears that Shalelu has returned from her Goblin Hunting near Sandpoint and now has a hand in stopping a global apocalypse.

Does this mean that friendly NPCs from previous adventure paths (not including Celeste perhaps) are going to start popping up in the future?

Bump.

Wow. Go Jason! You lucky dog!

Wow. That sounds so awesome! I can only imagine what this thing will entail!

*shivers with delight*

EDIT: What happened to the Set Pieces?

Due to financial reasons, could the fine folks at Paizo cancel all my subscriptions save for the Pathfinder Adventure Path?

Thank you.

Forum ate my last post, so I'll try to retype it.

I'm an not a businessman or a lawyer, and I know that some on the boards are, so I'll ask them and the rest of the community for their thoughts on the matter.

I've seen the multitudes of companies look at the GSL and say "no," others that have said flatly that they are staying with 3.5, and Paizo has decided to step it up with a different but compatible edition. So, from I business standpoint, I wondered thus.

If there is a large group of people who are not going to 4th edition and 3.5 is still a very marketable system with tons of good first and third party products, why does Wizards not simply divide and conquer: offer products for both 3.5 and 4th or make the GSL a little less lenient to allow for a greater amount of business to be done?

Do you think that in the future, if business does not boom as Wizards hopes, then they will change the GSL to accommodate? Is it that Wizards is so subsumed by Hasbro (which some designers have said they are not) that they see only the numbers and none of the costomers? Or would it just be too much of a hassle to produce both 3.5 and 4th edition products?

My knowledge of these matters is lacking, so I turn to the Paizo community for answers.

As an avid reader of the Pathfinder modules and adventure path, I've been keeping my eyes on the authors, and of late I've noticed something: Paizo employees are making more and more of said products. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing. I always enjoy a company who can both hire out and do some of the adventure writing. This tells me that their lives are calming down (as much as may be expected of Paizo). I'm glad that their schedule has lightened, or has seemed to, but of course, I have a question.

Why the reduction in freelancing? I know that everyone at Paizo loves the game, as do everyone on the boards, and I know the contributors love writing the stuff.

But looking again, I see that Amber Scott and Owen Stephens (forgive any misspellings) are doing some Pathfinder Chronicles Products. So maybe the venues are switching. I'll leave the answers to the Paizo guys, but I'm curious as to what freelancers think on the matter. The Lords certainly have their opinions, and that's welcome too.

Oh, and when is a) the next GameMastery open call and b) RPG Superstar!(tm)

Finally, a shout out to Mr. McArtor, as much as I can give, on his latest venture in life. Where he goes, the Paizo community, I believe, will support him, and I am almost sure that we'll see more city ninjas coming our way for years to come.

Pardon the late entry into this deal, but I just read the foreword to A History of Ashes and I read something about getting new freelancers for the Second Darkness, and wondered a little something.

When will submission guidelines be available for perusal?

I don't know if anyone has already posted this, but here goes!

Paizo Publishing LLC has had several products nominated for various Ennie Awards!

Best Adventure
Pathfinder #1: Burnt Offerings by James Jacobs
Pathfinder #8: Seven Days to the Grave by F. Wesley Schneider (correct the name if I got it wrong)
And while not a Paizo Product: Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk by James Jacobs, Jason Bulmahn and Erik Mona

Best Setting
Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer by Erik Mona and Jason Bulmahn

Best Adversary/Monster Product
Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revised by the Paizo staff and contributors

Best Aid or Accessory
Pathfinder Chronicles Harrow Deck by Jason Bulmahn, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn Woodruff

Best Free Product or Enhancement
Pathfinder RPG Alpha Release by Jason Bulmahn

And now for the big one
Product of the Year!!!!
Pathfinder #8: Seven Days to the Grave by F. Wesley Schneider

Paizo's Ennie Awards! Cast your votes now!

My copy of Flight of the Red Raven never left my side cart.

I've been reading through some modules lately and I've been seeing that NPCs have wands with less than 50 charges on them, and I wondered, "How much do those cost?" I've been stating up NPC's for a short adventure I'm writing, and I need to fit wands into the stats, but with the gold limit, I can't get the full 50 without going over.

So my question is this: how do you calculate the cost of a wand with less than 50 charges?

That's a nice, shiny, new cover you've got there Paizo guys. I like!

I'm making the Spawn of Dajobas and for the life of me I don't know how to classify class or cross-class skills for outsiders, or, for that matter, any creature type.

So my question is this. How do you classify class and cross-class skills for monster types?

This has been bugging me for a while, and I don't want to start my adventure writing career without knowing.

Three things.

1. What is the difference between a normal and elite creature and a normal creature stat-wise?

2. How do you know a creature's bonuses after applying the elite type?

3. Is it wise to simply roll the dice for stats rather than using standard or elite types?

Any help from the experts on the boards or Paizo staff?

--SAS

I'm technically both a Pathfinder Chronicles subscriber and GameMastery Modules subscriber, yet neither have appeared next to my name.

Secondly, I never got an order form for J2: Guardians of Dragonfall.

Any help is much appreciated.

--SAS

Am I too imposing?

Will Order # 859202 get at least partly to me by Christmas?

Any info would be appreciated.

The order says it will ship in "3-10 business days" but my subscription is schedules for 2-5 days. Is this to keep in line with the number of backorders, or am I missing something?

Any answers would be appreciated.

I was watching this Big Foot thing on the History channel a bit ago, and they mentioned that Big Foot has been seen many more times in Washington than most other places. That got me thinking. Not to sound insulting, but have any of the Paizo staff seen or heard any Big Foot stories?

How about the rest of you? Any crazy monster stories? Gossip, juice or dirt on the alien menace? Are we doomed to a life of unknowing whether we are being watched like mice in a maze?

Any ideas?

If possible can I cancel order #841904?

Don't want to be charged twice.

Now, I did not go through, but those who did, I think we would all love to see your submissions so we can gain from them what we lacked for the next showdown.

Simply put it in a spolier window to save space.

Congrats and good luck!

Knowing that Dragon will be out of print in naught but a few months, it seems that Paizo is pulling out all the stops. This one I gotta have!!!

I've been wondering about this question for some time now, and I can come to no clear cut answer. Here goes.

Clerics gain their spells by praying to their god and their god, in return, uses a very small fraction of its divine power in order to give the spells to that particular cleric. Since more worshipers means more power, and more power means more spells, and more spells means happier clerics.

Here's the rub though. There are those clerics who do not worship a deity of any kind. THey worship what most people would consider as abhorent: demon lords and princes.

I know that there are cases where the very belief in something can allow a cleric to cast spells, as in the case of certain cults. But demon lords are not beliefs: they are "real." Yet clerics, as far as I can tell, "pray" to these lords and princes, and recieves spells. The Book of Vile Darkness even gives domains for big lords and dukes of Hell. Asmodeus and Mephisopheles I can understand, a they are, as far as anyone can tell, gods in their own right. But the Maures and certain other lesser clerics recieve their spells from lesser lords.

I guess my question is this: how are any spells coming from demon lord/prince-cleric?