Squid's page

I can't even begin to put into words how I feel.

Shocked. Betrayed. Burned. Discarded like rubbish.

I think I just bought my last WoTC product. Hell, it's making me even consider giving up D&D completely. I don't have the time nor the energy to go hunt these things down myself... and now I'll be forced to.

As someone mentioned on WotC, (gads, I'm having trouble typing it now,) Paizo was the only source of non OGL modules. So now, if you want to have a module that uses something other than MM1, (and, for that matter, only certain monsters in MM1,) write it yourself.

I, for one, don't want to have to print off files just so I can use them in my game. I don't keep a laptop next to me for running the game. I like the feel and the touch of a BOOK, not a keyboard. I DON'T want to have an online subscription to an online magazine. If I wanted one of those, I would have gotten one for Pyramid when it went online, and I'm a much bigger fan of Car Wars than I ever was of D&D.

I have relied on the Adventure Paths for the past three years for my campaign needs, and I'm on a tight budget. This may very well kill my rpging for a very long time.

And what about all the aspiring writers out there? Is Pathfinder going to take outside submissions, or did the best way to break into the business just evaporate?

WoTC, this is a slap in the face to your entire customer base.

Squid

I am new to subscribing to paizo's Dungeon, (having a subscription years ago under TSR,) and I am wondering when I should expect my issue to arrive? I subscribed in such a way as to get the entire Savage Tide in a one year subscription, yet the first issue hasn't arrived. Is there any way to either check and make sure my subscription has started, or see if the issue is on it's way? Or should I be a bit more patient?

Squid

Not to beat a dead horse, but Aurumvoraxes were updated on Wizard's website shortly after 3.0 came out... and I happen to love the little critters. Thought I would pass the info on.

Squid

Hmm.... I've been playing D&D since 1977, and running D&D since 1980. I am currently running two campaigns, (Age of Worms and Red Hand of Doom,) and contemplating a third. I can go on and on here, but you get the idea.

Is the MMIV a good book? I think so. There are several things I would have changed, (eliminating the four stand alone maps comes to mind,) and there are plenty of things I would keep. (Spawn of Tiamat are going to be very useful to me once I continue RHoD past the end of the supermodule.)

I agree wholeheartedly with Sebastian. Expressing such statements as "lazy" or implying that anyone who likes or uses this product is inferior to you is plain old arrogance and elitism, and has no place here. Complaints are fine, constructive criticism is fine, thinly veiled insults are not.

I, for one, find the new format and the stat block a much needed boon. I don't have the time or energy anymore to pour out stat blocks and creations at a whim, so anything that's been done for me already is a great help.

/sarcasm For that matter, aren't new monsters just a crutch? After all, the work is being done for you... does that mean WoTC is telling you what to do? /endsarcasm

Squid

After having played it for some time, I'd have to say that DDO is built more to the casual player than the diehard level grinder of other MMOs. Which suits me just fine... with all of my pnp D&D games I run, (three at this count) I really don't have the time to devote to that... not to mention I don't want to be a MMORPG widower!

However, it's lots of fun... updates seem to be weekly, and free content will be added about every month or so. So, for the casual player, it'll be a long, fun experience.

Squid

Congradulations! It seems silly to say that over the mail, but a Postal Service is a very important part of democracy and normality. Here's hoping that the area recovers soon and things return to normal.

Squid

Actually, incorporating the "What squares are the monsters starting in?" into Dungeon would be of great benefit. I've had some very questionable placements before, and a list of where they would start in, given the assumed entry of the party, would be great.

Squid

I attended a Christian school for high school in the 80s, so I well remember the "anti-D&D" crusades. I was even told by my principal that I was not allowed to play D&D at school, or teach it. (I did get permission to teach it to anyone who specifically asked about it, however. I got the impression that he didn't believe the baloney the Christian right was spewing about it.)

What was the crusade against D&D about? Power, plain and simple. Back in the early 80s, several evangalists, including Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, supposedly got together because their incomes were dropping. They needed a new crusade to drive in donations, and because D&D was popular at the time with kids, they picked it to rail against, all in an attempt to get money and keep power over their followers. If that's not evil, I don't know what is.

Remember, we're talking about people who have famously said "God will put me in the White House," "Islam is satanic and bent on ruling the world," and advocate the assassination of public leaders he doesn't like. (all by Pat Robertson, btw. I think his comments about Islam are because they would interfere with his attempts to control the world, but that's my opinion.)

Squid

Okay... the "unofficial" roleplaying server is Sarlona, which is the one I'm currently playing on. I'm about midway through level 2. Yes, there are several quests that take you out of the city... but yes, it's not really freeform. There are no spawning points for monsters; hence, no spawn camping and all the problems that come with it.

Yes, it seems to be quite linear... however, that also means that it has something different that other mmorpgs. A Plot. While everyone is going through the same storyline, it's not that obvious... and since quests are repeatable, you can just find one you like and grind the heck out of it, if that's your thing.

I'm just now starting to fight bugbears and ogres... there's a lot of higher level content, including stuff like beholders and dragons, with more to come.

Describing the game as a MMORPG version of Neverwinter Nights would be correct. It plays more like a single player game than a normal MMORPG... for that matter, it feels like tabletop! So, go into it with those thoughts in mind, and you'll have a great time.

Now, back to ranking my character... :)

Squid

Windling Treehollow
Forge Skakentha
Tynor Evendell
--- all on Sarlona server for DDO

Turbine is already committed to bringing in more races and classes. Supposedly the reason why Druid and Monk haven't been introduced is, of all things, the animations. They simply weren't finished by the time the program had to go to disk. More races are also a priority; expect half-orc and half-elf very soon, probably within the first 3 updates. And, of course, a constant updating of content... and within a month of launch, a new quarter of the city is going to open up, with mostly the higher level quests in it. (trust me, there's a doozy in there.) And the 1st expansion pack is supposed to take us to 20th level.

Squid

Speaking as another DDO player, I do agree with the statement of finding a group you like. I'm still trying to find a group of players who want to explore the world and the dungeons, instead of "run around corner, smash monster, loot, pillage, repeat." The group I was with tonight had been through most of the quests already and I was constantly lagging behind. I think the situation will change as soon as the game goes 'live' on March 6th... many new players who haven't played before, and who will hopefully be cautious.

Squid

Windling Treehollow
Forge Skakentha
Tynor Evendell
--- all on Sarlone server for DDO

Got it. Hmmm... I'll probably widen the wooden walkway around the building, then. It's not part of the original building; it's something the Large critter's friends added in for themselves, and it just makes sense that they made it large enough for the guards to walk around. Other than that, no changes.

Squid

I did notice one interesting mistake/"choice I don't understand" in RHoD. Location 3, Rhest Lake. You have several Large creatures on the roof of a building and on a wooden walkway. Regarding the ones on the roof... the staircase is too thin; they'll have to squeeze to navigate it! Same situation with the wooden walkway, the Large critters can only stand in three spaces or so without falling in the water, and they're supposed to patrol the whole outside. Ditto with the Large critter inside... it can't leave the room without squeezing!

I'm asking is that was this a deliberate choice, a typo of map scale, or what? (I'm going to double the map scale to ten feet a square; easy fix, but I wanted to make sure this is what was intended.)

Squid

James, there is a way to include more adventures in an AP... have a couple of issues include two modules for the AP. I've also noticed that, when running an AP, there sometimes needs to be a 'filler' module for when the party is either larger than normal or is suffering more losses than normal. Might I suggest planning a 14 module series instead of a 12? I also would suggest taking it into epic, but not very far.

And I personally want to see more 50 room dungeons! I happen to like dungeon crawls, and so do my parties. Big dungeon crawls are fun... please include more of them, instead of smaller 15 room locations.

Squid

James, I just wanted to tell you that what you've written is an incredible masterpiece. This adventure reminds me of the best of fantasy literature... it feels truly epic in scope. I'm going to run it as soon as I can. Please, please, keep producing work of this quality, and I'll buy each one.

Btw, can we send our copies of the module to you to get autographed? I couldn't get one of the 'graphed copies off of Paizo, and I like a signed one.

Squid

Heavy Sigh.

There are errors in the Monster Manual. The mind flayer sorcerer's CR is one of them, as is the fact that there are several animals who have Weapon Finesse as their feat even though they don't qualify for the feat (they need +1 BAB).

From everything I've seen and heard, Zyrxog is right about where he needs to be for a powerful end-of-the-adventure boss. He's got some very strong defenses and offenses, but if your party plans for the battle and uses tactics well, it's by no means a no-win encounter.

When you get right down to it, adding sorcerer levels to a monster (ANY monster) who doesn't already cast spells as a sorcerer simply isn't as tough as people seem to think it is.

Tell me about it. My 1st group pratically won't accept the ruling of anyone, including me! It's getting so frustrating that I'm at the point of telling them either they're going to accept what I say, and not argue about it in the game, or I'm going to stop running.

I mean, it's like.... Skip Williams, who's he? Only one of the guys who wrote the game, and is the final source on rules. (I'm thinking about finding his home phone number, because I'm sick of hearing the word WHY?) And they won't accept his rulings! I'm at my wits end with them.

Squid

I'm running two campaigns of AoW, and we just finished HoHR. One party said, "To heck with this, the dang mind flayer can live!" and left him alone... the other won wiped out all of his minions, and then had to retreat before they faced him. Being the smart illithid he is, he grabbed his junk and fled, but not before he charmed and suggestioned several commoners and low level experts into poisoning the local wells... hhehehehee!

Both of my groups heard about his CR, and they're quoting the dang MM to me to show how tough he's supposed to be... So, everyone out there who run this encounter, how tough is he, really?

Squid

Okay, I want to play this game, but I don't know if my modem can handle it. Do you need a broadband connection to play, or will a 56k modem do? Other than the modem, I should meet all of the system requirements.

Squid

The sad part of this thread is that it is no longer a joke. The online supplements stopped at #128 and it's now issue #131. Now, I haven't been around for awhile, (been on vacation) so I don't know if there was an announcement that Paizo was discontinuing this feature of the site... so please forgive me if I missed it.

So, really, what IS the ETA of the online supplement for #129?

Squid

Hey, I can settle for next week. The parties are right now on "Hall of Harsh Reflections," thus letting me get two modules ahead. Because of this, I'm able to run HoHR and CB essentially at the same time. (In fact, both parties were so concentrating on the Champion's Games that they got blindsided by HoHR.

Considering that Gathering of Winds represents the halfway point in the campaign, can we get an update on the Overload, even if it just combines all the updates together?

Squid

Well, I would keep in mind that the NPC did just try to wipe out the entire Free City and turn them into wraiths... what, some 100,000 people or so? Hmmm.... mass homicide, at the very least. If that doesn't justify a complete destruction of the body, (remember, in D&D death is merely an inconveniece) then I can't really think of something that should.

Btw, can we get some sort of hint as to at least the stregnth and aura of the diadem? Even if it has dormant powers, their auras would show up via detect magic.

Squid

I currently have a player in my group playing a doppleganger, and a few nonstandard races from the Races books and Eberron. What really matters is whether the player is choosing this race for roleplaying reasons or munchkin/power gaming reasons. They're doing in for roleplaying reasons, or that it is an interesting choice.

If your player is doing it for munchkin reasons, then watch out, especially if the rest of your group aren't munchkins. (At one point I had one group of 6 players wanting to all play gestalt characters. Yea, roleplaying reason... really.) I had someone in a group whose only desire is the absolutely most powerful wizard they could. (Can you say 512 points of wandering damage per round?) It got to the point where the player had to be asked to leave the group.

Frankly, munchkins can be controlled, but if this one can't be controlled, you have problems. I wish you luck.

Squid

Well, my parties have learned that they Never, Ever go hunting for "that last 30 xp we need to level" for I tend to send them against something about 3 to 4 CRs higher than them. That way, when they start craving xp for out of game reasons, and then act on it, they get punished...

Squid

Well, both of my parties managed to acquire Filge's syringe and they're using it to heal the party in combat. I figure that once they hit this section of the module, they'll use one of the potions and put it in a syringe. When the worm doesn't go through the syringe, they're going to figure out something's up.

Squid

Well, first of all, a part of the RoSP will fall into the adventurer's hands sometime in the campaign. (Read the Overload, it's mentioned in there.)

Regarding their feelings of lack of trust... have Allustan bend over backwards to help them and prove himself trustworthy. Make your good guys wear white hats and your bad guys wear black ones. Smenk is thoroughly evil; Allustan is good. Put everything in the perspective of black and white.

Feel free to remind the players of things their characters should know, but their players have forgotten. Remember, you could be picking up your new session two weeks after the last time you played, but for the characters it's been two minutes.

Let the party hire an NPC that will take care of most of their chores... selling items, researching, etc. This will let them focus on hack 'n' slash, and less on roleplaying.

On the powerless and helpless feeling.... send some thugs at them who are grossly overmatched by the party. Even better, send a group roughly equal in power to the party and fudge the rolls in the party's favor, aiming for a dramatic but victorious for the party fight. Don't let on to the players that you're fudging rolls in their favor. If you do this correctly, they'll feel like they have more power and are better than they thought.

It sounds like you have a relatively new to gaming group. Most new players thrive on the combat aspects of the game... play these up, and downplay other aspects.

Remember, there is no winner or loser in gaming. If your group concludes that they had a good time, then that's all the victory you need.

Squid

As one of my npcs put it, upon Filge's capture....

"We'll make sure that he has a fair trial, then we'll hang him."

Basically, this guy's guilty as heck, and deserves to die. The evidence is overwhelming. However, we'll go through the motions to satisfy everyone that things are the way they are, then we'll do what is required.

Squid

Well, both of my parties beat the Ebon Aspect while not at full power. (Course, both parties are at 8 players...) They mainly played against his weaknesses. For example; a distinct lack of ranged combat, his large size in a ROOM full of columns, flanking him for sneak attacks, etc.

A smart party should be able to beat him. Do consider that he's a boss monster, and should be treated as such.

Squid

Well, I found two copies of #127 at a local Barnes & Nobles. I'd rather get it from my FLGS, but at this point I was ready to get it anywhere I could. I'm thinking about subscribing when I can... which will probably be forever, knowing my luck.

Squid

Well, since it's been longer than 12 minutes....

How the #127 web supplement coming along? :P

Seriously, thanks for the #126... get to the #127 when you can. Age of Worms is shaping up to be better than Shackled City, and I love running it. My 2nd party had a great mass battle with the lizardfolk... real dicey both ways. (I learn from my mistakes... 1st party is going to have it worse!)

Squid

I'll check around my area today. I was worried because Dungeon hits here in the Atlanta area on it's ship date, pretty much without exception. (I think this was the first time it's missed it's street date.) It's not that big of a deal, but it is very unusual for this area... that's why I was wondering.

Squid

Here's the story... #127 was supposed to hit the streets just before Labor Day, September 2nd to be exact. It's now September 10th and the mag has yet to arrive in ATLANTA. In other words, in one of the largest cities in the USA, the magazine has missed it's street date by over a week.

No, I'm not talking about subscriptions, which are subject to many things, including, apparently, rifts in the space-time continuiumn. I'm talking about when the magazine hits the store shelves.

I'm not ticked, just worried. My parties are about to hit EaBK and if they blow through it, I'm in trouble. So, ladies, gents, and others, is this a problem with the distributor, the publisher, or something else?

Squid

I'm suprised that no one thought of an obvious choice... he's either a changeling or a doppleganger. I'm running with a mix of these two critters, and maybe the simulacrum idea will work as well.... hehehehehe....

Squid

Gladly... although I don't drink, I believe in the sentiment! I'm very impressed by Paizo, and I plan on backing them in as many ways as I can. Heck, I'd love to work for them... maybe I'll submit something. It's been a long time since I thought about it, but I think some of my stuff is worthy.

Squid

Thanks, James! As I said, I've found the supplements to be extremely helpful to my campaigns. The art works as a great handout, and the maps are extremely helpful to me. Not having to flip back and forth in the mag for the maps is great. So, please, keep up the good work, I promise I'll be patient.

Squid

p.s. Are any of the Paizo staff going to DragonCon? I'd love to thank you guys and gals in person for all the good work that you've done.

I'm in the same boat as Loops... both of my groups are about to finish 3 Faces of Evil. Fortunately with DragonCon being next weekend, I'll have a two week break, so it's not that urgent for me, but sooner is better than later.

Squid

Just as a note... I haven't seen the cover yet, but I generally frown on anything that gives away a major clue to a module contained within. Why? Well, a player, if they are going to cheat, has to actively do so... say, downloading the Overload or opening up the magazine and reading the adventure. With the cover, that's not true... a player could simply see the cover in their FLGS while glancing around the store and then have a good idea about what they're going to face. Information is released accidentally.

Note: I do mean for any module within the mag, not just AP2!

Course, it's a pain to come up with a decent cover not related to the modules within, but it can be done. At least no "Dopplegangers in the Free City!" blurbs on the cover, please? (I've got two changeling players and a doppleganger player in my two AoW campaigns, and I want that module to be a surprise!)

Squid

It looks like barricading yourself in the Hexor temple is popular. One of my groups did just that, and the other group is about to need to rest. I figure that if you need to rest, you'll clear out one temple and then hole up for the night.

Squid

YEA! Finally a use for my Zombie White Dragon D&D mini! [:P]

Seriously, do you think we can work in a way to foreshadow Dragotha that somehow uses the ZWD? Maybe as a monster the party must fight in the Free City arena? Considering how iconic Dragotha is to Greyhawk, (one of the better known monsters) the party should be quaking in fear every time they hear his name, and the final battle needs to be worthy of someone of his stature.

Squid

I figured it was something like that. I was personally thinking of a reduction in the size of the font would shrink the size by several pages.

The section 1 thing is something that's on the bottom of the toolbar for Adobe Acrobat. With a normal file, (read: any other AA file I have,) there is no section mentioned. On Overload, there is... that's why I was asking.

Squid

Just curious... but the pdf file says Section 1. Is there a Section 2? And the Overload was originally said to be 40+ pages... what happened to the rest of them? (I can think of one way that the page count shrunk, without losing content... but I wonder if that is what happened.)

Squid

I have a suggestion... tell your players before your next session to bring their character sheets with them, instead of having them make new ones.

Have Theldrick Raise the entire party, imprison them, then throw them into the middle of the battle temple against some sort of horrible beast. To make things remotely fair, he gives them mundane equiptment, (keep all of their magical gear,) and forces them to fight the beast to the death. Survivors are given a chance to convert to the cult.

The trick here is that the party can stand a chance of survival if they can get through the door into the temple, (it's only a normal door, after all,) and out of the complex without the Hexorites capturing them. The Hexorites haven't told the rest of the temple that the PCs are there... why spoil their own fun?

Or, you could have the dead pcs wake up from one of the Faceless One's experiements... maybe coming back as some sort of undead?

This is D&D... much like the comics, death is only a temporary condition.

Squid

I said it for AP1, and I'll say it again... the Adventure Paths published by Dungeon, (and selected modules from Dungeon magazine,) are shared experiences by the vast majority of D&D players out there. Hopefully, Dungeon will continue this trend and keep publishing Adventure Paths for us.

Squid

I'm not sure that I've posted in this thread... (it's 451 posts, after all,) so I'm just posting to get my email in there. I'm looking forward to the Overload. Hopefully it'll be ready in time for me to read it before my games.

Oh, while I'm at it... I've got a player who has correctly guessed the tie in of the Rod of Seven Parts, among other things. You sure you didn't release the Overload outside of Paizo for "proofreading?" :P

Squid

I went ahead and made him a lacedon. It made sense to me, since he died underwater. I didn't bother changing his skills or anything else... just the swim speed gives him quite an advantage. You might want to consider upping the CR by 1 because of the situation.

Squid

Hmmm... gripe and complain? Say "I told you so?" Naaahhhh... you guys are getting chewed out enough already and I certainly don't need to make it worse.

Look, James, Erik, everyone at Paizo has, by far, exceeded my expectations when the magazines were taken over from Wizards. You have made Dungeon a "must buy" for me, and Dragon isn't far behind. And, for all pratical purposes, I'm barely employed. You are bending over backwards to make good on your promise, so I'm backing you all the way. Just get it out "when it's done" and I'll be happy. (I admit I need it now, but I'll live. The backdrop gave me plenty to go on.)

I do have one question... it is implied that Balabar Smenk should no longer be a major threat by the end of 3FoE. Does this mean that DMs are able to design his house as we see fit? My party is ready to break down his doors to arrest him, and I'd like to know if I need to keep him alive for later in the series or not.

Squid

ASEO, I had the chance to talk to at legnth to the head of DDM, and I hate to say this, but the cost you would pay would be equal or greater than the cost of a quality Reaper minature. You see, the end cost doesn't end coming straight from the production cost, it comes mostly from the packaging.

For DDM to be available as singles, like most other minatures, Wizards would have to pay large amounts of money to come up with the numerous packaging designs... the cost/benefit analysis shows that to make the mini, paint it, (remember, hand painted, mostly) pack it, and ship it, the cost that the consumer pays is greater than the cost of an unpainted mini, by a fairly large margin... we're talking dollars, not cents.

Squid

Hey, considering what goes into making a "necroturgeon", he really COULD be on steriods! After all, he's injecting himself with them....

Regarding that fight sequence in the top of the tower... I can tell you what a difference a cleric capable of high powered turning can make. One game, cleric couldn't turn worth crud, second game, clerics were making the undead run like little children after an ice cream truck. Turning really made the difference for one party when dealing with Filge.

Squid

OH..... dang. And here I was hoping to become a playtester. And ASEO, you lucky drow, you... Wolfgang's a great writer, and I certainly wish I was there with you. I would love to play in one of his games... lucky you.

So, any hints about what we're going to see in a few months? [:P]

Squid

I did have one other concern about the new stat blocks... their size. Considering that things had to be removed from modules to save space... are these new stat blocks better? They're much easier to read and use, but if they're going to cut short module legnth and content legnth, I'm not sure that they are a good idea. I can deal with smaller blocks if it means I get more content.

Squid

Part of the reason I'm asking is that I'm DMing a playtest of episode 6 Friday night...

ASEO out

*blink/blink* I was under the impression that there were no playtests being done outside Paizo. In fact, I remember my group asking to be playtesters months ago, because I felt that playtesting would improve an already great idea, and I was told that there were going to be no outside playtesters.

Now, I don't know what to think. As far as I know, my group was the first group to ask, and we were told no. No outside groups. And now there are? I would like to politely ask what's going on, and why I was turned down when apparently others weren't.

A slightly irritated Squid