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The link below to my Google Drive includes my maps for Wrath of the Righteous Volume 1. I am moving on to Volume 2 and will include those when they are complete. The Maps also include a few "Theatre of the Mind" maps for some locations. These are 2d images from a FPS perspective made as an image intended as role-playing backdrops as opposed to traditional battlemaps (though you can run a combat on a TotM map if you so choose). Bottom line: don't worry -- all of the battlemaps are there - and then some. Some of the battlemaps are far more elaborate, namely, Topaz Solutions (now located in a building within its own district of Kenabres, with a dangerous attic as opposed to a basement- Avinia's home in the same district on the north-east side of the map. Similarly, Blackwing Library is far more detailed, with the rest of the Librarium buildings shown as they are burning. Additional encounters to Blackwing may be added as you see fit. In some cases, details have been added where it seemed appropriate, but in no case has it been reduced. Resolution is 150 pixels per sq, created in DDraft with FA Assets, with additional effects and shadows added post in Photoshop. Images are in .webp, and include a login Splash and "Campaign Candy" landing page.
Here's the thing: I have Paizo's entire library of Map Packs, Flip-Tiles and Flip-Mats in electronic form. If this is Pokemon? I have quite literally caught them all. (I even have this physical product line before Paizo made them, going back to Steel-Squire's versions of them, for that matter.) I use these products in digital form, not printed form and have for nearly a decade. The problem I am now running into the past year or three -- and it is a problem now every single time I try and use these map making assets -- is that I find that I no longer can use them digitally, at least when it comes to the map packs/tiles. I just ignore the flip-tiles entirely now when it comes to map making. It's a damned shame. The problem is simple: there are pre-existing grid lines on these digital map products that I do not want on my finished map image. And I have no way to turn them off. I don't want more than the digital product delivers -- I just need a little less I appreciate that these products are primarily intended for physical use. Any digital use became an unintentional "bonus". That's entirely fair. And so in that context, a grid make sense. But as a digital product, the grid is usually not desirable in the finished assembled map when used in a modern VTT. I could get into a lengthy technical discussion of digital map making, resolution independence, and VTT implementation -- but I don't think the specific technical reasons are terribly germane. Suffice to say that while grids are helpful to help make a map, they are bad -- very bad -- with the finished digital product -in-use. In the AP line, the interactive map packs exist so as to permit an end user to turn off the grid. This is super helpful to GMs using those maps for VTT play. Bottom Line: Providing something similar, or simply just another PDF with the map images supplied **without the grid lines** would be greatly appreciated by subscribers who want to use these products for VTT play. Because these grid lines are interfering with my ability to use what is otherwise an excellent digital product. I don't get any value-in-use out of them. Which is a shame given how awesome they otherwise could be in digital form.
So we customers can be a b!*$~y, pain-in-the-ass ever complaining group of customers, I know. Still, it is gratifying to know that Paizo pays attention to the grumbling. The problem, hitherto, (which was really just this past AP and the one before, tbh, as the Interactive Map Packs were not in place for Starfinder prior to that) was that the ship maps on the back page were left out. While it is true that Starship Maps don't contain the secret door info that was, once-upon-a-time, one of the main reasons for Interactive Map Packs in the first place, their utility has grown beyond that narrow use case. In particular, the Map Packs ability to turn off the grid allows for easier importing of the art into a VTT -- and we never want grids on maps for *final* VTT use as that just makes it harder to use them. (We do need the grids temporarily for scaling purposes to get them into the VTT though). Anyways, bottom line, Paizo listened to us and with Vol 6 of FFoD, they included The Risen in the Interactive Maps too. So very happy for this development. Thanks to Jason and Jason (and their other brother Jason, too) and all the non-Jasons at Paizo for this.
Please note that the stat block for this ship is in error. As written the ship is described as having the following AC / Target Lock: AC 11; TL 19 This in error, the correct numbers are: AC 18; TL 26 Explanation: The AC and Target Lock, as published, do not incorporate the skill bonus +7 included in the crew's stats attached to the same ship.
I am in the midst of prepping Crash and Burn for Fly Free or Die and the more I read, the more impressed I am. I used to review APs for Pathfinder, both in podcast and in print form - and I am pretty hard on most of the stuff I read and run. While I do not claim to have read each and every single AP volume ever published (I play in some and so prefer not to spoil all of them) I certainly have GM's (or read) about 75% of them across both the PF and Starfinder lines. I already think Fly Free or Die is the best of SF AP (by far) but I want to say that Crash and Burn is itself, exceptional. There are not many times that Vol 5 becomes a high water mark in an AP. Frankly, the "back nine" usually sucks compared to the the "front nine". That's just the nature of storytelling and the AP format. I can only think of only one other AP where Vol 5 was the stand out -- Greg A Vaughan's Skeletons of Scarwall in Curse of the Crimson Throne (and the Anniv Ed is even better). And that's mostly about Greg's amazing map, frankly. But Crash and Burn appears to have bucked the trend, too. I might be jumping the gate and Vol 6 will blow me away (spoilers: final volumes in ANY AP never do that but... who knows?). Still, this is a really great module and I wanted to say publicly how impressed I was with it. Well done! .Robert
I'm prepping the White Glove Affair, and I have just reached the starship combat noted on p.37. Apparently, the PCs are going to be fighting with their new ship. Is the "White Wind" the Compent Windfall on the inside cover and there was just a name change that got missed in editing? Also, is there a visual representation of what the Compent Guardian is supposed to look like? Do I have some visual depiction of the ship the PCs need to fight?
Pathfinder Adventure Path: The Abomination Vaults The heroes complete a resolution of a modified run of the Beginner Box Adventure Menace Under Otari and begin their investigation of the Ruined Lighthouse in the swamp north-west of Otari in search of Aaram - the tavern-keeper who went missing during the collapse of the Thirsty Alpaca in Otari some two weeks ago. Episode 1 - The Abomination Vaults Actual Play - Streamed on Twitch using Foundry VTT The heroes complete a diplomatic resolution of the Beginner Box Adventure "Menace Under Otari" and begin their investigation of the ruined Lighthouse in the swamp north-west of Otari in search of Aaram - the tavern-keeper who went missing during the collapse of the Thirsty Alpaca in Otari some two weeks ago. Join the Chronicles Vodcasters as they grapple with Foundry VTT and Pathfinder 2e - new to both and flailing away. For added vicarious enjoyment at their discomfort, play along with the Chronicles Vodcast Drinking Game! Each time the crew applies the PF1 rule in error instead of the correct PF2 rule, you must drink. Warning: You should only be drinking a lite American domestic beer while playing the Chronicles Vodcast Drinking Game.
I know the Anniversary Edition has been out for quite a while now. I pre-ordered and got it when it was released. And yes, I flipped through it and was aware of the changes to Scarwall in a notional way, aware of some of the specific changes and I knew that there were others as well. The details of most of this I was content to leave for later exacting reading. This past weekend, I started preparation in earnest of Skeletons of Scarwall to get it all into D20Pro. It's a lot of Photoshop, Herolab and D20Pro fiddling to do all of this. It's also, by-the-by, excellent preparation to tear a dungeon apart and get everything into D20Pro to understand how it all works and fits together. Oddly enough, the more diverse and spread out the adventure material is, the less getting it all into D20 Pro serves as a tutorial. Sweeping, multiple local adventures don't really benefit from a D20 Pro break down in quite the same way. But for dungeon crawls? Especially something as massive as Scarwall? Breaking it down and getting all of the details into D20Pro is the ultimate GM instruction tutorial. I frikkin KNOW this AP volume backwards, forwards, and sideways now. And that, in turn, brings me here with words of praise. HOLY CRAP the revisions to this thing are significant and pitch-perfect. I am truly, super impressed with the Anniversary Ed version of Skeletons of Scarwall. I had always dreaded running this part of the AP and had built in a massive EJECT button into the campaign early on to sidestep most of it. While my group is still in the beginning of A History of Ashes, I thought I would spend some Xmas vacation time to just get Scarwall into D20 Pro and see what I would keep. One encounter after another, one room after another, it all sucked me in. Haunts, phantasms, encounters -- one after the other -- just when I thought I was out, it pulled me back in. So, I have to run all of this, somehow. Major Thumbs Up. The first Paizo Uber Dungeon Crawl got even better; way better. Well done.
Despite the many strides forward taken by Paizo in the past, this premiere volume of the Dead Suns AP appears to have many of the technical art issues which had previously been eliminated by Paizo re-introduced to your AP maps. The problem arises because of cropping and scaling which is applied to the map PSD as they are inserted into the module. When the maps are scaled or cropped, the underlying map grid is affected. This makes it very difficult to prepare and use the map in a VTT. The underlying grid is affected and the result can be very troublesome to fix. In Incident at Absolom Station, there is a significant problem presented by the map cropping/grid which arises with the map of the Fusion Queen on page 16. The top-most row of the map grid has been cropped, such that at the unaltered resolution used in the PDF image, 8 pixels from the top row of the map image are missing due to the crop applied to the image. Because the top most edge of this map will be actively used during play (indeed, likely to be used in combat), we can't crop this partial row out to fix the issue. (The cropped row runs directly through "B4" and "B4a") I spent a good while in Photoshop having to copy+paste and use a spot healing brush to recreate the missing band of pixels in the cropped image. (It's still a little dodgey, but it will work.) Can Paizo staff working on Starfinder APs take some care in the future to NOT do this? Happily, Paizo staff have taken extra care in the technical art aspects of your map art for the past 5 years or so, very conscious of the problems they present to VTT users. This premiere issue of the Dead Suns AP is, regrettably, a step backwards on the technical side of your product.
It may not have been something people have noticed yet as most games have not yet begun, but Table 2-4 Character Advancement in Starfinder yields an interesting change in Starfinder. Whereas Table 3-1 in Pathfinder RPG displays a Slow, Medium, and Fast advancement track (where Medium is the PFRPG default), Starfinder has dropped the Slow and Medium tracks and has gone with the Fast track as the only XP point progression in the game. I must confess, I am not a fan of this. I find in Pathfinder that even the Medium track is often too fast for leveling for my tastes. I never use the Fast Track and have not since I ran D&D 3.5. We can of course use whatever tracks we like; and if the default of Fast Track is not okay with us, we can use a Medium Track anyway and use the same XP levels as exist in PFRPG. Problem is, sadly, as the table has only one option, I would expect that Herolab will only use one as well. It would be nice if LWD adds in a Slow and Medium track as House Rules to use when setting up a character. It's not as if the code has to be added; they can port it from Pathfinder's code base. I'd like the option to be able to specify my own track as House rule and have it work within Herolab. If anybody else might like that too, perhaps sound off? It can't hurt in persuading LWD to offer it as a House Rule override in Herolab.
In preparation for the release of the revised CotCT next month and our new AP campaign of CotCT, I have been reading the older 3.5 versions of this classic AP. One thing I am concerned about is differentiating the campaign in a tangible way from the many other PF APs we have played (or are playing). We have played (or are playing) 14 of Paizo APs so far. That is a LOT of Adventure Path play over the years. One of the major problems we have run into is that there is an emerging "sameness" that had been developing after playing so many of them. So we have gone the extra distance over the past few years to try to address that emerging sameness issue. Most of our attempts have been working rather well, actually. In that regard, my thought for this AP to change the feel of the campaign is to strive for a Musketeer Era feel to the game in terms of promoting derring-do, acrobatics and swashbuckling play styles during combat -- and for cultural assumptions out of combat during roleplay and court intrigue. The PCs would all be drawn from an elite Kingsguard Unit, (an imagined offshoot of Sable Company) dedicated to protecting the life of the King. The Grey Maidens, as a nascent Queensguard will therefore become the arch-enemies of the disbanded and soon-to-be-outlawed Kingsguard. More controversially, gunpowder would be introduced to the campaign at all levels. The intention is not to turn this into the Wild West, but a late 17th Century France take on Korvosa. Each of the PCs would start at 2nd level, each having their 1st level as either Gunslingers or Swashblucklers (Players can spcifiy an archetype within that if they wish) they then move into the regular chosen class at 2nd level for the rest of the campaign as play begins. We would not level up any PC until that point in the AP when the PCs are intended to "ding" 3rd level. We went with a very similar approach in our All Dwarven Giantslayer run (all PCs were dwarves and started as 2nd level with their 1st level as a fighter or ranger) and this has worked out extremely well. To the extent that any of the early encounters are underpowered against 2nd level PCs, that's trivial to tweak encounters in an upwards direction. I am still reading through CotCT and my opinion on the viability of a Musketeer take on the AP will be informed by reading as we go on, but does this sound particularly wise or unwise to any of you at first blush, given what is to follow later in the campaign? I am greatly interested in your thoughts and opinions on this spin on CotCT.
Available Now! Download HERE Chronicles Podcast Returns from the Dead with an all new episode. Steel and Azmyth catch up on their games and campaigns and what they have been doing lately in the intro. We interview Ben Loomes, creator of Syrinscape as well as Matt Morton and Tobias Drewry of Mesa Mundi, publishers of d20Pro. Chronicles welcomes the return of authors Richard Pett and Greg A. Vaughan for a special spotlight on The Blight by Frog God Games. On the review, author Mike Shel checks in to discuss his unique 64 page stand-alone module "The Dragons Demand" in spoilerific fashion. To finish, Azmyth and Steel discuss the module with an in-depth (if not protracted) review. Brevity? Never! We stretch it out with 4hrs and 20 mins of podcast, cause that is how we roll!
After reading through the Battle of Bloodmarch Hill a few times, I have to say this about all of that. No, just...no. This is too damned Black and White. This is portrayed as KID's STUFF. The area is too clear cut, too cartoonish, too simple in its morality and absolute in its depiction of the people's ideals. Nobody feels real. It misses the mark for me. Completely. Here are some of the issues for me: 1- Racism without being Actually, you know, RACIST There is racism and racial tension without there being any actual racism. Why? Because that is unrealistic, or is it simply that it pushes the wrong politically correct buttons? Here is an enclave of human within the unclear borders of Belkzen and these CRAZY people are both distrusting of -- and somehow protective of -- their half-orcs? ALL of them? No, no and no again. **NO** This rings FALSE to me. The opportunities for Jim Crow and deep prejudice among the human and half orcs is missed. The opportunity for a grim and gritty Trunau is avoided -- not because it would ring false, but because it might offend. And that wouldn't be "fun"? Screw that. 2. Same-Sex and Multi-Racial Relationships Without Consequences Similarly, the AP seems to go overboard on same-sex relationships and then layers on top of it a multi-racial relationships, too. Without providing any context, tension, or consequences to ANY OF IT; it ignores opportunities to provoke controversy and then examine it in game. It's just an immature DisneyLand approach to these serious subjects. We see it in the relationship between the Female Half-Orc Smith and her Dwarven wife in Vol 1, and another opportunity is missed in Vol II between the Saboteur and the Half-orc Cook. I haven't got to the rest of the AP in depth yet, but given the missed opportunities in the first few volumes, I am guessing it will happen again as it moves forward. 3. Class and Ethnic Prejudice and Hatred in Family Relationships They could also have developed the theme of racial tension further in Vol 1 with the Father of the murder victim and his antipathy towards his son's lover (who actually seems to have been his wife, as they exchanged hopeknives.) But they miss it. It's just treated with a middle-school level of complexity here. It BEGS for more. 4. Race, Rape and Jim Crow beyond the Walls of Trunau We could have explored this theme further with WHO does the farming outside the walls and who is safe within them. The number of half-orcs, who conceived them and why, Orc raiders in the area, the signal fires, and the issue of half-orcs within the town just screams RAPE and what THAT means for their society. But no, another opportunity missed. I well understand why Paizo might have decided to ignore this given those uncomfortable implications in this "triggering" society we seem to now live in, but it's the elephant in the room. 5. Hopeknives are VILE Fanaticism The very idea of the Hopeknives and what they represent is a fanaticism which is portrayed as noble, but which if explored with some maturity is as offensively over-the-top extremist as almost anything ISIL did last week. It may well be best summed up as potentially bat-shit crazy. An opportunity to explore how the victim felt about hopeknives is lost as well. This demands moral complexity but we get middle school theme park out of it. Why? Because the entire approach seems appropriate to a teenager's sense of moral complexity. It misses the mark, fails to feel real, and in general, seems just ... silly. I won't do it. I won't run a module that BEGS to have layers of grime, grit and moral complexity like a patina (if not a pall) over everything -- and run it instead as if it was some Banana Yellow and Pink theme park ride in DisneyLand aimed for 10 year olds. I won't do it. Am I the only person who sees this? I can't believe that, yet, nobody else is complaining. I am mystified at the lack of a reaction to this by Pathfinder GMs and subscribers.
Looking at my Pathfinder comics collection tonight, I observe that of the issues that came with a map (by FAR my favorite feature of the comic line!) Paizo, in partnership with Dynamite, has now have released 18 individual battle maps. The comic maps themselves are essentially the equivalent of 4 Map Pack cards assembled into one map. Ignoring the promo/box art in a typical Pathfinder Map Pack, each with 18 5x8 cards in each pack, that makes the 18 total released comic maps the equivalent of 4 Pathfinder Map Packs. That's a rather significant amount of content! I prefer to use my maps online with a VTT, and yes, I have scanned all of the comic maps in at 150 dpi for that purpose. But tbh, it's an awkward task and no matter how careful I try to do the scans, some glare and imperfections in the scanned maps are inevitable. In addition, the colors are not as vibrant as Jason Engle's original "camera ready" art. So here is a product I would like to see: a PDF product of the maps released with the comics to date. I would think a 24 map collection would be an auspicious number to include for sale sometime in the spring of 2016. Whatever the case, I would be very happy to buy this as a PDF only product at normal map pack DPI resolution, in pre-assembled map form. While I know there is also a market for the comic maps as a stand-alone print products, I am concerned that to release them as stand-alone print products (assuming Paizo even has the right to do so) would devalue the existing printed maps that ship with the comics, so I'm a little iffy on that idea. I would also point out that phasing in the encounter maps in some form for generic use in Pathfinder Society Scenarios would also make sense and make good use of existing art assets. In short, I love the comic maps and the comic maps and encounters are among the most under-appreciated and hidden gems in Paizo's product line. I want to be able to make better use of the content created and released so far. How about it?
Just in time for the drive to Gencon, Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast returns with the Chronicles Re-Rolled Pre-Gencon Special: Featuring guests Stephen-Radney MacFarland and Rob McCreary of Paizo Inc., Colen McAlister and Liz Theis from Lone Wolf Development, Matt Morton of d20 Pro, and Jason Nelson of Legendary Games. Join Azmyth and Steel_Wind for the return of Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast and their featured review of the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path, Vol. 1 The Half-Dead City. The all new episode weighs in at 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Please NOTE: The old iTunes/RSS Feed for Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast no longer works, but we will be updating an all new iTunes subscription link later on in the week. For now, used the above link to download.
Just in time for the drive to Gencon, Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast returns with the Chronicles Re-Rolled Pre-Gencon Special: Featuring guests Stephen-Radney MacFarland and Rob McCreary of Paizo Inc., Colen McAlister and Liz Theis from Lone Wolf Development, Matt Morton of d20 Pro, and Jason Nelson of Legendary Games. Join Azmyth and Steel_Wind for the return of Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast and their featured review of the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path, Vol. 1 The Half-Dead City. The all new episode weighs in at 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Please NOTE: The old iTunes/RSS Feed for Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast no longer works, but we will be updating an all new iTunes subscription link later on in the week. For now, used the above link to download.
I thought I would post an update to my current Age of Worms, Re-Rolled campaign. As I have posted elsewhere in this forum, my Age of Worms campaign has been converted to Pathfinder RPG and has been completely converted to Golarion. Without giving too much away, the central conceit is that the Greyhawk NPC's and mythos which lies at the heart of Age of Worms has been completely excised and has been redesigned with the NPCs and mythos of Golarion substituted. I have created a design document to convert Age of Worms for use in Golarion for this and anyone who is interested may PM me for that design document as I do not want to post it here (my players read this message board). The current document is a work in progress, but weighs in at 5600+ words.
The Heroes travelled from Diamond Lake to Egoria, (the "Free City") a journey of about 3.5 days along the Imperial Highway on horseback in search of Ezren ("Allastan") who disappeared via a telepport spell carrying Harsk at the beginning of Encounter at Blackwall Keep. At the time, Harsk had been infected by a "slow worm" and was on the verge of turning into a Spawn of Groetus. During the course of the events of Hall of Harsh Reflections, Ezren's daughter, Marzena worked with Grandmaster Torch to find the location of Ezren without success. As The Champion's Belt began and the Great Fire was lit to start the Games, the heroes met at the ding room of an absent Chelish noble. The home's owners were absent, but the great dining room was in use by GrandMaster Torch as he entertained the heroes, Marzena and a new companion, the sorceress Seoni (Celeste). Seoni confirmed that no trace of either Ezren or Harsk had been found in Absalom. Given the considerable enchantments placed upon the former "Heroes of Westcrown" to prevent them from being magically located -- no spell would ever locate the missing pair. Still, where magic would fail, old-fashioned intelligence, rumours and informants might yet provide a clue. A few pointed to the involvement of Lord Valeros (Loris Raknian) as the man who was behind the attempt on the PCs life at the hands of the doppelgangers. As the dinner unfolded and the Heroes prepared to feats, a silver chafing dish was uncovered to reveal a rack of lamb. Beneath the cover of the dish, a delayed blast fireball went off at the table severely injuring the Heroes and almost killing Grandmaster Torch. In the panic, smoke and fire which followed the Heroes escaped from the capital and returned via teleportation to Ezren's home in Diamond Lake to heal up and prepare for entry into the Champion's Belt. While there, the PC Wizard, Felinx who had been working on his familiarity with Ancient Azlanti, noticed amongst Ezren's papers the old Azlantui runes for the word "Icosiol". Thinking little more of it, the Heroes prepared to return to Egoria and to enter the competition for the Champion's Belt. Under the protection of the Fires of Peace, even the hero pledged to the worship of the Dawnflower might safely reveal his divine spellcasting power safely within Cheliax -- as long as the Hellfires of Peace burned, at least.
The tourney progressed and, with some difficulty, the Heroes prevailed against the competition. Between matches, the Last Knight of Aroden was visited by the Chelish noblewoman Ilya, who the Heroes had rescued from bondage in Sodden Hold. Entering into a private chamber beneath the Arena, the Lady Ilya had paid dearly for the privilege of spending some... quality time... with the gladiator of her choice. Following their tryst, the Last Knight learned that last year's champion, Auric, had a similar tryst last year with Hakim's (Ekaym) missing sister, the Lady Lahaka last year during the games. Understandably, Auric was reticent to speak of his tryst with the Lady Lahaka, given that she was the second wife of the Minister of Punishment, Lord Valeros of Blackstone -- the Chancellor of the Arena and patron responsible for the Champion's Belt tournament. Later investigations of the rest of the chambers beneath the Arean ultimately lead the Heroes to Bozal's lair, the Apostolic Scroll and the Great Worm. Bozal was defeated and slain and the secret passage to the wine cellar of Blackstone castle found as well -- but the Scroll could not be touched and the Worm remained in its force field cocoon. On the eve of the final battle against Auric and Khellk, the Lady Seoni, in disguise visited the Last Knight posing as a matron who had paid for his stud services. Seoni revealed that in an attempt to hunt down GM Torch's would be assassin, the clues lead to Merisiel, a former adventuring companion of Seoni from the old days. Seoni advised the Heroes that she had defeated Merisiel's plot to have Bozol raised from the dead in Absalom, but Merisiel had eluded capture. Seoni also revealed that a copy of the Apastolic Scroll she had read in the holdings of the Arcanamirium indicated that a sacrifical event involving the great worm Ulgurstasta and the Blood of a Champion could have apocalyptic consequences. Seoni subtly suggested to the Last Knight that it might be best if he and his companions did not win the match -- but Takomah rejected the advice. Other events in the city in the two days leading up to the final battle in the arena also changed the celebratory tone of the city of Egoria. Some event in Andoran -- a great battle as the rumor went -- had emptied the city of most of the troops that had patrolled the streets. The Queen and the Infernal Court was also said to have left for the battlefield and many of the Infernal Court's Wizards who had acted as Umpires at the battle and tended the force field surrounding the competition had also left the city for the front.
During the course of the final showdown with the Grand-Champion Auric, Khellek and their Flesh Golems, the heroes witnessed a fatal attack on the Archmage Talibir, Umpire of the Games, by Lord Valeros from within the Royal Box. At that time, the Ulgurstasta burst from its holding chamber into the arena and Pandemonium ensued. As matters turned out, the battle against the Ulgurstasta was touch and go. The worm did not burst through the floor of the arena until the 4th round of combat and by that time, Auric had been brought to near death by the efforts of the Heroes during the contest. The Great Worm had the Champion in its mouth and if it had swallowed the Champion, an apocalypse would have been unleashed upon Egoria. As chaos unfolded, the Last Knight strained to hear the urgent whispered words of a far-off woman, pleading help -- or perhaps providing instructions. Whatever the case, the words could not be heard and the Champion was soon to be swallowed. The world's fate teetered on the edge of the razor's blade. However, at that moment, the elven Ranger Yuimiara saved the day (and the world) by firing three arrows at the Worm, doing 89 points to it with one attack. The demon worm was brought to (Un)Death's door and was easily dispatched before the worm could swallow its sacrificial prize. In the immediate wake of the attack on Talibir and the worm's entry into the arena, the Crown Prince and Lord Valeros had vanished during the chaos and there was still fighting within the Arena halls. The surviving Umpire dropped the force field and the Heroes quickly provided to the Infernal Court their notes concerning the worms and the cult of Groetus. As the Wizards traded words, Seoni dropped to the sands and told Takomah that earlier that morning Diamond Lake had been destroyed by a dragon. We resume on Monday, Feb 25, 2013 with Wolfgang Baur's "A Gathering of Winds".
As I have mentioned earlier this week at 401 Games, I am retiring as Venture-Captain effective Monday, December 3, 2012. A number of factors have contributed to this, but the essence of it is that after a year and a half, Pathfinder Society is less satisfying for me than it was. Often, it seems to feel that is has evolved into an obligation. As a consequence, it is feeling a lot more like work and a lot less like fun. That’s not a lot of fun to me — and it isn’t fair to you all as players either. You need a Venture-Captain who is fully engaged and excited to be involved in the game. Right now, that just isn’t me. While Jeff Mahood has done an excellent job as Venture-Lieutenant and co-ordinator at Dueling Grounds, he has a number of other obligations in his professional and family life which have lead him to prefer not to act as the new Venture-Captain. Instead, Adam Mogyorodi will be stepping up as our new Venture-Captain for Ontario. For those who do not know Adam in person, he posts as Mergy here on the Paizo Message Boards. For those who do know Adam from in-store play, Adam has selflessly assisted many new local players in creating their own characters for PFS play in the Toronto area. Pathfinder Society and the Southern Ontario Lodge will be in good hands. While I will continue to be involved with Pathfinder as an Adventure Path player, GM, sometimes reviewer and podcaster, I will be withdrawing from all PFS activities until probably well into 2013, at a minimum. My career and family can use the extra time — and frankly — so can I. I wish Adam all the best and hope that you all will support him as he steps up and takes our local PFS lodge to the next level (or three). Wishing you all Happy Gaming and a great Holiday Season and prosperous New Year.
Part 1 - Click Here
Gamer Nation, we return from Gencon 2012 with a canoe full of seminar goodies. But first, we reflect on Gencon 2012 and share our con stories and discuss the Reaper Bones Kickstarter . After that, we get on with the seminars. The 2012 Gencon Seminar special weighs in at about eight hours long so we have split it into two separate podcast parts. Part 1: 01 Cast Intro and GenCon stories – 44:53
The Gencon 2012 Seminar Special continues: Part 2: 01 Paizo Adventure Path Q and A – 58:46
Please use the above links until the iTunes feed updates.
FanExpo is this coming weekend, August 23-26 at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre. FanExpo is Canada's largest "Geek Culture", event, with approximately 80,000 people expected to attend. While admittance to the Con is not free, there is no cost to participate in gaming or our Pathfinder Society events held at FanExpo. More information on registration for FanExpo is available here. Information on sign-ups for Pathfinder Society is available off of the Southern Ontario PFS Lodge, available here. If you are not able to sign-up ahead of time, just show up at the Games area and ask to join in. We will accommodate all players who drop by as best as we are able. Below is the schedule of PFS events for FanExpo. Thursday, August 23, 2012 Dawn of the Scarlet Sun 7:00p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The Goblinblood Dead 7:00p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Friday, August 24, 2012 Rise of the Goblin Guild 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. We Be Goblins 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. In Wrath’s Shadow 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Master of the Fallen Fortress 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The Golemworks Incident 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight Dawn of the Scarlet Sun 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight Saturday, August 25, 2012 Echoes of the Everwar Pt 1 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. First Steps: Pt 1 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Echoes of the Everwar Pt 2 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. First Steps: Pt 2 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Echoes of the Everwar Pt 3 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight First Steps: Pt 3 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight Sunday, August 26, 2012 Rise of the Goblin Guild 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. In Wrath’s Shadow 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Golemworks Incident 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. King of the Storval Stairs 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast -- Episode 018 Kingmaker Vols 4 and 5 with Neil Spicer and Jason Nelson Available Now. Click HERE Chronicles returns with Episode 018 and a double-shot of Kingmaker with a side of gaming goodness. We intro the podcast with our regular chit-chat and goings on and then move on to our interview with Pathfinder Lead Designer, Jason Bulmahn. Gary Ray returns to give us some insight into game retailing in another segment of Diamond in the Rough. Matt Morton of Mindgene LLC comes on the cast to explain the new features of the latest release of the Virtual Table Top d20Pro and their new marketplace. Colen McAlister of Lone Wolf Development provides us with another update on Herolab. We move on to the meat of the show first with a Player friendly discussion of Kingmaker Vol.4, Blood for Blood with guest Neil Spicer followed up with our interview with Jason Nelson, author of War of the River Kings. After the warning, Neil Spicer joins us again for a spoilerific discussion of Blood for Blood. Our Staff Review of Kingmaker, Vols 4 and 5 covers the bases and looks back all the way to Vol 1 with pointers on how to foreshadow and adjust your campaign. We close it off with a timely (finally!) discussion of our Classic Modules Conversion Project, new CCW Producer auditions and more. All-in, Episode 018 weighs in at over 5 and a half hours. See you at Gencon 2012. Please use the above link until the iTunes Feed Updates
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast 2012 PaizoCon Seminar Special Available Now: CLICK HERE Chronicles returns with the 2012 edition of the PaizoCon Seminar Special. Azmyth, Cherry, Archer, and Painlord discuss their Paizocon experiences and introduce the seminar recordings. The PaizoCon 2012 Seminar Special weighs in at just under eight hours -- an epic length which should not scare anyone who is a Chronicles fan. At the end of the seminars, we feature an exclusive interview with publisher Erik Mona at the conclusion of the podcast. The breakdown of the seminars and the time codes for each are as follows: 00:01:38 Intro/Montage
Total time, 463.5 minutes. Please use the above link until the iTunes feed updates.
If past Seasons of Pathfinder society were collected (or, in the case of Season 0, updated, then collected) into a single Season hardcover? I would absolutely buy that product. Moreover, I wonder if there are a large number of Paizo customers who do not currently buy any PFS scenarios or who do not take an interest in Organized Play who might buy such a collection for use in their home games? I know that the collation/assemnbling of any existing products by Paizo needs to weighed against cannibalizing existing sales and deterring future sales of forthcoming products. I get that. At the same time, I think that if a Season that was many years out of date were to be published in such a fashion, it would attract interest from the broader mass of Paizo's customers who are not current customers of this product line -- and who might take interest in future electronic releases of scenarios if their interest was focused on the product by such a compilation. Worth considering.
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast returns... Chronicles returns with a Monster of a Double Episode. Big Bertha covers two volumes of the Council of Thieves Adventure Path and more. We start off with an extended intro and discuss Heroes and Monsters, a new community survey concerning Pathfinder Society and what to buy for Pathfinder RPG. Gary Ray returns for a discussion about RPG retailing in Diamond in the Rough. Colen McAlister of Lone Wolf Development joins us to discuss the latest updates to Herolab. On the CCW, Research brings us the Tiefling Mage Hunter. Erik Mona returns to the cast in his smoking jacket to discuss the latest developments at Paizo Publishing. We welcome our first of two AP authors, Clinton J. Boomer to the podcast to discuss his work on Vol.4 of the Council of Thieves AP, The Infernal Syndrome. We follow it up with Greg Vaughan to discuss his work on Vol. 5 of the same AP, The Mother of Flies. After the break, Boomer joins us again for the spoilerific details. We welcome a guest designer to the Encounter Lab, as Paizo freelancer Jesse Benner joins us in the studio to discuss a variant on our Pathfinderized War Troll. Mr. Vaughan joins us again to provide us with insider Google Maps tips to touring the darker side of Tulsa, Okla.. And of course, interspersed on the back nine, Ryan and Steel pull double duty with their reviews of The Infernal Syndrome and The Mother of Flies. We send you on your way home with our final thoughts on the sheer stupidity of attempting to record, edit and release a podcast of nearly 6.5 hours in duration. Psst - we plan do it again next time on Episode 18, too! [i]Please use the Above link until the iTunes Feed Updates![i]
Hey all, As promised, here is the current tentative list for PFS events at Spellstorm 2012. Spellstorm is Toronto's only games only convention and will once again be held at the Royal Canadain Legion Branch 101 in Etobicoke by the Long Branch Go. Travel to Spellstorm via TTC (streetcar) Go Transit (train literally lets you off right atthe con) or via car (ample parking). More info on the event is available HERE as are the sign-up sheets via Warhorn. Since last years's Spellstorm, we have started up two new regular PFS games in Toronto, so I am expecting a much larger turnout this year for PFS events at the con. While last year's event was fun -- I'm expecting better things as a result -- including enough peiople to run a Pthfinder Society Special! Given the strong reaction and sign-ups for the Ruby Phoenix Tournament at Gryphcon, we have added the event to Spellstorm as well. Friday, Feb 24 2012 Slot 2 7:00 - 11:00 p.m..: The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet (5-6) Saturday, Feb 25 2012 Slot 3 9:00am - 1:00pm Quest for Perfection 1
Slot 4 2:00pm - 6:00pm Quest For Perfection 2 (Tier 1-2)
Slot 5 7:00pm - 11:00pm Pathfinder Society Special: Year of the Shadow Lodge (All tiers, 3 tables) Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 Slot 6 9:00am - 1:00pm Quest for Perfection 3 (Tier 1-2)
Slot 7 2:00pm - 6:00pm 3-EX Pathfinder Society Venture Officer Exclusive: The Midnight Mauler (On Request, Tier 1-5)
Hey Paizo People! I know you are sleeping in, drinking coffee, eating chocolates and Living the Life of Riley on your extra day off this fine long weekend, but tomorrow you'll be back in the office and you'll see this request then ... The skuttlebutt is that the entire office in Renton is so Mac oriented, there isn't a PC to be found in the whole damn place. Well, that might be so, but it seems to me that -- from time to time -- the promo Wallapapers you guys are putting up that accompany some new released Pathfinder products are missing a vital part of the Wallpaper needs of your OFFICE -- and your fan base, too. I'm talking iPad users. Surely an office full of Apple Fanbois and Fangrrls can see their way clear to try and come up with the occasional Pathfinder themed Wallpaper for us iPad users. And by "wallpaper for iPad users" I mean a graphic that is sized 1024x1024. Please and thank-you!
The Necrophidius is presented in Bestiary 2 and has appeared rather infamously in some Adventure Paths and Pathfinder Adventure modules. The essence of the Necrophidius is that it is termed to be a "CR3" construct. As any GM who has run this monster will tell you, it is not a CR3. Its CR is underestimated considerably. It is a CR4 at least - and might even be a CR5 given that its Dance of Death is an area effect at-will ability and saving once against it does not prevent you from having to save again in the next 24 hour period. The chief problems with the Necrophidius are as follows: 1 - It is constructed out of bone and initially appears to be an undead Naga of some kind, such that the party can spend a few precious rounds in the beginning of the combat attacking it as if it were an undead, instead of attacking it like the construct it is. This is okay, in and of itself. It becomes critically important when the delay in doing an optimal attack results in the Necrophidius performing another Dance of Death to nuke the party into a stupor as a consequence of misinterpreting the true nature of the foe. 2- Special Abilities. The Necrophidius has two abilities which make it exceptionally nasty for a low level party. They are: Dance of Death (Ex) A Necrophidius can entrance opponents by swaying back and forth as a full-round action. All creatures within 30 feet who can see the Necrophidius when it uses its dance of death must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be dazed for 2d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +4 racial bonus. Paralysis (Su) Any living creature that is bitten by a Necrophidius must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.. The Dance of Death is far and away the most powerful ability the Necrophidius has. It effects all creatures within 30 feet, can be performed multiple times in the same combat, and a failed save takes the dazed victim entirely out of the fight. At 2d4 rounds' duration, that's a LONG TIME in Pathfinder combat. Worse, the DC is Will 15. For a low level party of 1st-2nd level adventurers, that's odds on to take out half the party with the opening dance. So here's the thing that annoys me most concerning this creature. Why is the save DC 15 for the Dance of Death ability? It's sure as hell isn't supposed to be. The save is "Constitution based" and includes a "+4 racial bonus". Oh really? What "racial bonus" would that be, pray tell? I'm looking through the so-called bonuses of a construct and I don't see this "+4 racial bonus" anywhere. A construct has no Con score at all. So where is this mystery "racial bonus" coming from? Where in Bestiary 2 is that "racial bonus" located? Seems to me, I've been looking for this "racial bonus" for a good long while. For the very good reason that it doesn't appear to exist. Am I wrong, or is this monster flat-out WRONG in its DCs, and the DC for both the Dance of Death and its Paralysis bite should each be DC 11? (DC = 10 + 1/2 of hit dice of creature) That would certainly cut down on the lethality of the creature and bring it back to a CR3. Seems to me this creature is NOT a CR3 and this DC 15 is the primary reason why. So come on in Paizo devs. Show me where in the nether regions of some developer's nether regions this "+4 racial bonus" may be found? Is this an imputation of a "racial bonus" based on the additional 20 hit points a medium construct receives? If so, why would the "+4 racial bonus" be halved when also applied to the paralyzing bite? Where is this "racial bonus" to be found?
I like all three, although the Minotaur is a little difficult to making exciting giving all the brown on the paint (inherent to the figure). I was curious to see seams joinng the Minotaur's arms to the body on both sides, but no such seam is visible on the Ogre. The Manticore is the best of the three and I am quite impressed with that mini, sculpt and paint both.
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast: Episode #016 Now Available - Click Here Episode 016 limps in to port battered, but with a hold full of rich cargo. We start with an extended intro and a vexing bit of listener mail. We introduce a new regular feature to the cast with Gary Ray from Black Diamond Games and then move to another new regular installment, Herolab with Colen McAlister. In the Character Concept Workshop, we feature Geppetto, the Varisian Ninja-Witch. On the Deck, we interview Denny Unger of WorldWorks Games and discuss Terraclips, a joint venture between WWG and Wyrd Miniatures. We interview our feature guest, Paizo author Crystal Fraiser on both the Companion and Spoilerific Chronicle interview after the warning break. Steel presents his take on The Harrow Deck and The Harrowing. We send you on your way with an extended outro and another addition to the Chronicles Cast, Josh Archer. We sail it in with a run time of 4:13 minutes. See you at Neoncon and Viva Las Vegas. Please use the Above link until the iTunes Feed Updates
So I began Feast of Ravenmoor tonight with a table of five. There was no problem filling the table -- in fact, I had more requests for it than I was able to fill. I made it clear to players that they would have to be able to commit to four sessions in a row. Nobody batted an eye. I'll comment more fully on how it all shook down after the module is done, but I have to voice my initial impressions on this one singular difference right now:
The last fourteen RPG sessions I have GM'd have all been PFS sessions, whether in-store or at Gencon. Especially as we don't begin our PFS sessions until about 6:15-6:30 and we have to be out of the store by 10:00 p.m., there has been significant time pressure to make sure the sessions are completed on time. Almost all of those sessions I have finished on time, but it was not until this evening that I recognized how much this Tyranny of the Clock had been influencing my experience during the game. Suddenly, the pressure to finish was off and I RELAXED. We all did. It made for a HUGE improvement in our game experience. That one change in the pace of the game and in the removal of that pressure was WAY more significant than I ever expected it to be. As a consequence, I think I had more fun running this than I've had running any PFS session, ever. Just sayin'.
I just wanted to draw to everbody's attention that I posted of a Paizo product(s) today over on ENWorld. The focus of this review was on two Paizo card decks. The deck I wanted to draw to the attention of all PFS players and GMs is the GameMastery Condition Cards Deck. For all of the reasons I set out in the review, I believe that the Condition Cards Deck is absolutely essential gaming gear for PFS play and I urge all PFS GMs to pick up a deck of these cards and bring it to their next session. Put it out there on the table -- open -- and use it. You can use it by either choosing and passing over the relevant condition card to a player when appropriate or by just having the player fish through the deck and choose the appropriate card when they get acquire a condition. Either way works just fine. (Player fishing out the card saves you time). Point being: this card deck is ideally suited to PFS and new(er) players to the game. I know we have been using it here in Toronto as has VC Azmyth and several GMs in the Bay Area Pathfinder Society during PFS sessions. Everyone who has tried it for PFS (so far at least) have all been extremely pleased with the results. I think you will be, too. Cool Gaming Stuff™ is often hard to find (and usually expensive when you do find it). When it's only about $10 or so? You should be sure to pick one up. Highly Recommended for PFS play
So I've been playing in a home campaign and lately we've been running through Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale. It's been mostly great fun. While I do have some issues with the presentation used in these pre-Pathfinder RPG 32 page stand-alone modules (three columns and the cartoony art style is very reminiscent of Dungeon Magazine and seems a little quaint now), the underlying adventures have been thoroughly enjoyable. No surprise with that. After all, the authors of these modules are Paizo staffers and the Werecabbages: the same people who create Pathfinder Adventure Path every month. I've also noticed a large stock of older 3.5 modules in my FLGS, too. I think they've been there quite a while and it's pretty obvious that these things just aren't selling. Is PFS a way to make this older Golarion stock relevant and get these modules back into play? It seems to me that creating Chronicle Sheets for these older modules, perhaps with updated stat blocks online where absolutely necessary, would be a win-win-win. Win #1: PFS would have a larger volume of multi-session modules to run. My experience with PFS indicates our players want more multi-session arcs. So that provides more -- and longer -- scenarios. That's a plus. Win #2: The re-purposing of 3.5 modules for PFS creates a new demand for pre Pathfinder modules and serves to assist retailers in clearing that inventory -- perhaps with enough demand that they might even choose to re-order, too. Win #3: And lastly, my guess is that if the retailers have some inventory they can't sell, Paizo does too. My guess is that Paizo would like to sell this 3.5 stock and get it out of their warehouse. No better way to get rid of that inventory than to sell it at full price, or nearly so. :) Provided that there is not a cookie cutter approach employed to these modules and that not EVERY module is assumed to be playable in three sessions (some modules are longer than others -- some of them much longer), I don't see how this would be a bad thing. If there are stat blocks that need some work, that can't be that hard to accomplish. I know that sitting back with a full copy of Herolab, I could update one of these modules with PFRPG stat blocks in every single encounter in about 5 hours or less. Probably less. So all of this seems entirely doable to me. Again -- no cookie cutter approach please. I am NOT in favor of an arbitrary "this will take three sessions to play so you get 3 XP" in a Chronicle Sheet -- when the module plainly can't be done that fast and it will take five sessions to finish instead. As long as we are fair and reasonable about the Chronicle Sheets, I am a big fan of this approach to expanding the current stable of modules approved for use with PFS. What does everyone else think?
From what I can discern, I do not believe this Chronicle sheet has been released yet. I would be gratified to be shown wrong! Otherwise, I am very much interested in running this for my PFS event in... well...now I guess. I am assuming of course that this module will be sanctioned,(I suppose that it might not be). Assuming that it will be added, and further assuming that "right now" isn't terribly convenient, my hopes are that Mark Moreland will add this to his to do *sooner* list :P
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