Dragonslayer Dwarf

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I've always been curious as to which adventures the writers have been most proud of or consider their favorite.
1E or 2E, AP chapter or adventure.

Hoping to see some of the older names too.
Thanks for your time.


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Dramatis Personae
1) Cole the Seer, Human Kellid Oracle of Life. Sixth son of a Sixth son believed to be cursed, dumped on the doorstep of the Pharasmin temple at Clover's Crossing before the fated night destroying the village and it's only survivor. He's haunted by that and sees "dead people". ;) Taken in by the professor for a time while they tried unsuccessfully to unravel his "mystery" and why he alone survived.
2 and 3) Halifax and Ash, Dhampir brothers. Haslifax is an Inquisitor (Kinslayer) of Pharasma that despises his nature. Ash is a (Hungry Ghost) Monk that embraces his nature and superiority. Both feared and reluctantly trained at Garvecharge, at the professor's request as well as Loren's (see PC #3) advocacy. Both exiled from Gravecharge as Ash's abilities started to manifest resulting in injuries to other students.
Halifax headed back to the professor not wanting to see his brother ever gain. It's been 20 years or so since they have seen eachother.
4) Loren, Middle-aged, semi retired Paladin of Pharasma, and former basic combat instructor at Gravecharge in Lepidstadt. A native of Clover's Crossing that trained acolytes at Gravecharge for three months or so a year. The destruction of his home town occured while he was serving at Gravecharge. Guilt follows him as well for the loss of his family. A good friend of the professor.
5) Razula, (an escaped) female elven witch of a forced coven in Irrisen. Marked and Hunted by one of the seven (See Irrisen for details). She abandoned the other two captives as well. Taken in by Niska Mvashti (RotR) for awhile until a greater Shadow was dispatched to kill her from Irrisen. Niska fought it off and decided to send her into hiding with her old friend Professor Lorrimor in Ustalav.
5) Corbina de'Stejar, female (sort of Human) Wizard (Universalist). No memories prior to teenage years when she was found in the woods near Hyannis (after escaping a certain asylum in Carrion Hill) by a traveling circus (The Crooked Kin). Placed into care with Horace Croon for awhile before "Uncle Horry" thought the professor could teach her more at Lepidstadt.

What I did...
1) Threw trust points out the window. I went with a more "Ravenlofty" approach to earn the townsfolk trust by the PCs actions instead. This earned our Monk a hefty discount when he had to repair one half of a broken Butterfly Sword (Gray Oozes are bastards to equipment) at Jorfa's Forge. She was grateful that the party minimized the damage to the town square where her forge was located.
I also changed the name of the town to Ravenhome. Ravengro was a terrible name IMHO.

2) Planned to run the Fiddler's Lament plug-in from Legendary Games (Necromancer staff) but decided against it at the last minute because it seemed too "busy".
This add-on is supposed to take place in a single night, and kind of felt like any average night encounters afterwards would be calmer. My players already noticed an escalation of encounters with Haunts, Undead, Stirges, Possessions, etc.
The add-on seemed more like a culmination with the Rebec Malevolante player as a BBEG. I did "Steal" Rufio as a Pharasmin acolyte/assistant to Father Grimburrow. My player's sort of adopted him.

3) Skipped the Burning Town Hall encounter, this would have either been too complicated tactically and taken too long, or way too quickly as beheaded are just too weak in general.

4) Omitted Father Charlatan completely (as well as his two lines in the skipping song) and ran with 4 main haunts/undead instead of 5. I put an Allip in his room instead as a party favor.
a) He didn't really fit with the other ultra-violent main antagonists.
b) His mechanics were overly complex and I didn't want to have one of my player's lose control of his character this early in the game, even temporarily.

5) Replaced any ectoplasmic encounters with Lesser Shadows from the Tome of Horrors/Fiddler's Lament plug-in.

6) Major: adjusted most of the encounters (if not all) to better challenge a six-character party.

7) Adjusted the Lopper in a cinematic sense. Gave him the creepy, high-speed tic-like gait instead of his floating/flying move.

What surprised me...
1) Kendra felt more like a footnote than a major NPC. After the will, the party was too busy with the investigations and planned encounters to have much interaction which went well regardless.
2) The party brought back some masterwork weapons and masterwork suits of studded leather as gifts for Rufio, the Sherrif, and his surviving deputies. One was killed by Gibs when two sat on watch detail as blood trails were tracked back to his house. One of the two posted deputies raced back to the town square to help with an off-camera "Restless dead" encounter distraction while the party was in Harrowstone. My players seemed to really like the NPCs.
3) Gurtis Vortch was a fantastically balanced encounter, possibly deadly to a 4 man-group.
4) The Mosswater Marauder was a fantastically weak encounter, a Let-down in it's purest form. He needed more HP as written and d4 damage per skull defeated instead of a d6.

What I would change...
1) In a melee heavy, non caster group, or a group like mine which was 50/50 Ranged/Caster to Melee/not alot of access to useful spells ratio. I'd drop a magical weapon or two earlier, BEFORE they enter Harrowstone.
Incorporeal creatures and Haunts = BAD to low level characters.
The Souls subdomain (Of Repose) was key here which our Inquisitor took. Without it my players would have likely crossed over into frustration mode as the magic weapons don't really roll in until well into entering the prison.

2) Reduce the amount of lesser restoration available so early. Between the wand and potions found, I would probably halve the number of charges in the wand. It's a tad overkill.

3) More Haunt Siphons (see #1 above). Haunts are mostly only susceptible to Positive energy.
a) Only our Paladin and Oracle could channel/LoH (yay!), Luckily we had them in our group. Other groups would be SOL. If your group is light on Positive Energy... add more Siphons!..... or die?
b) The same Paladin destroyed all the main antagonists items in the property room before they knew what they could do as they met Vesorianna after discovering them.
Alternatively, I'd have Vesorianna roam the main level instead of being anchored to doing permanent laundry, and have her meet the PCs before they find the property room.

4) Lock the west balcony entrance with a higher DC. My group rolled high enough to get in and that was their first foray into Harrowstone. Luckily, I removed the extra stirges from the mess hall during their encounter with the Piper of Illmarsh.

5) Have the Giant Stirge patrol the outside of the prison instead of tied to his location. My group had 6 characters, I added the fiendish template and buffed his HP. The group bypassed him completely.

6) The Splatter Man was a PITA encounter because all of the above and then some. On top of that I had to play him stupid because of his OP corruption touch (I'd have 3 dead melee folks if I played him right.
Additionally, having him attack and drop through a floor/wall/ceiling (even with the group getting AoOs), combined with him being incorporeal, the group being out of siphons, low on Touch of the Spirit World domain power, made this a super long, frustrating, cat and mouse game of epic proportions. I was actuually running out of spells for him.
Oh, his Summons were pathetic. Fiendish Dire Rats and a Fiendish Giant Spider later lasted less than a round. I recommend giving him back all his spells at least and reducing his touch to 3d4. Monks have d6 unarmed at this level, Splatty is no monk regardless of his level.

7) The Poltergeist encounter was creepy but weak AF. As they failed fear saves they ran straight for the exit. the slamming door haunt turned this into an "open door" nothing following them to the next time they opened the door to it being right there, oh s&$@e moment (I was also playing up the dark/unlit prison thing)

Overall great weekend for all, and they loved the campaign. So I guess I did my job. :)
Hope this summary helps anyone planning to run it.


Books are all like new, excellent condition (90% are unused as I run digital in my home games).
List includes...

Adventure Paths #1 through #66 (complete run from Runelords to Shattered Star)
15 Adventure modules (all 1E) from Crypt of the Everflame to the Midnight Mirror.
Core rulebooks + APG, Inner Sea World Guide and GM screen.
Lots of Campaign Setting books, Companion books, and Map Folios.

$600 is the asking price, I just uploaded this to FB's marketplace.
I'm in the 11706 zip code if anyone is interested, willing to go into Brooklyn/Queens/Nassau County.

Apologies if this is not the place to post it, I just figured I'd give fellow LOCAL forumers a shot at this.


1) The players. My old PF/D&D group of a bazillion years broke up about 11 or so years ago. This is a new group, all of us are age 30-50, with me as a GM. The rest are friends of 15+ years, mostly consisting of ex World of Warcraft buddies along with an old pal from my old group. We meet up a lot in RL individually, and still game together over PC (talk on the phone almost daily and hang out in discord, etc). Two of the players are experienced tabletoppers, one hasn't played in many years, another has kept a steady pace with various D&D incarnations atm.

2) The goal. Twice a year, a long weekend getaway from stressful jobs, going through a full (or expanded) Pathfinder AP at an air B&B location that's central enough for a similar drive time from various states (as well as Canada). Campaign goals were set at about one and a half books per meetup.

2a) The accomplishment. A little shy of one book at this meetup. We took some extra breaks for family phone calls, a tavern/microbrewery jaunt, the 49'ers/Packers game,etc.

3) The AP choices. Originally, this was to be one of my two favorites, Carrion Crown and Kingmaker. I decided to run something more traditional and easier with Runelords and see how this all comes together. I'm glad I decided on Runelords, more on this to follow.

4) The experience. We started with a prelude in Crypt of Everflame to see if the group liked PF enough to invest in a long term campaign like an AP. Characters were 15-point buy and created months ago with backstory tweaks to Runelords as well as a few other seperate modules. The party of five consisted of: Paladin, Druid NPC, Sorcerer, Rogue and Witch.

some backstory:
The hook was the Paladin player's father's crypt (Crypt of the Everflame) held some dangerous minor artifacts they found and hid before their demise at the hand of Iramine, one of their own. His father lost his paladinhood due to infidelity, basically he fell fro Iramine while still married to the player's mother, a Keleshite Dervish and Asar's sister. Iramine killed her in self defense during the initial confrontation, Asar blamed his father (rightly so) and in a fit of rage killed him and took the player as his own. When Iramine found out, she tracked down Asar and killed him because of her own insanity and guilt.
Eventually, she fell in with evil to whispers of the Dark Tapestry promising her power that she thought she could use to undo the troubled past. This began with stealing the Midnight Mirror from the crypt of the everflame.

4a) What we liked. Curse of the Everflame was fantastic as a prelude, adjusted to keep folks at level 1 to begin Burnt Offerings. I left out the townsfolk and their contest for the backstory spoilered above I added Zerren as a part-time hireling of Iramine's to link it to Skinsaw later at Habe's. Another PC (Tengu Rogue) was also hired by Iramine but fled to sandpoint when she started using innocents as trap fodder.
Burnt Offerings was just as great, they liked Sandpoint well enough. There was some frustration here and there with the usual suspects, Erylium and Gogmurt come to mind. I played them to the hilt, Gogmurt took two casters down at the refugee thistle cave with his pet's trip and a well placed entangle while the meat shields finished off the rest of his Birdcrunchers, they had to parlay. The Birdcrunchers took "the good lair" in exchange for the PCs clearing it and a promise not to raid caravans passing through to Sandpoint. Tsuto got the drop on them and took out the rogue with a well placed Critical. Erylium is still Erylium, Nuff Said!
The not so stealthy approach to Thistletop lead to a near TPK and harrowing escape. They were smarter during their return trip some days later. Thistletop sent for reinforcements but they never arrived in time (this DM boon was explained as Gogmurt and Birdcruncher survivors doing their part to get the good lair by delaying said reinforcements).

4b) What we didn't like. LOL, cellphone and playoff game interruptions, crappy tasting takeout. The module itself was great.

4c) Where we are going. Here's the kicker.... I'm likely ditching RotR after we do the last two levels of Thistletop and moving to Shattered Star instead.
The reason... We had a great time, but I sensed that most of the fun they had was from combat, even when they near TPK'ed and got their arses kicked. Despite some town padding and leading, Sandpoint wasn't a big deal for them and besides Ameiko and Sheriff Hemlock, they didn't seem interested in getting to know the town too much. The "Shayliss Affair" went off great and I had big things in store for her later but that'll go back on the burner.
Though my player's liked it all, I think something like Shattered Star will work better based on our limited time, as well as trying to maximize their enjoyment. A lot of RP fell by the wayside explaining some mechanics to the new to tabletop player, and two of the veterans seemed a tad hesitant about taking lead during the RP moments.
I'm not saying Shattered Star has no RPing moments, I just think combat will break them out of the preliminary shell while training/refreshing them in the intricacies of the PF ruleset. Also, a smaller set of recurring NPC's (despite a bigger city) might be easier to deal with from an RP standpoint.
On an important tangent... I though minis and battlemats would kill alot of our time and we all thought to minimize the tactical aspect to SOME boss fights, important encounters like a dragon, etc. Ripnugget's throne room and the Catacombs of Wrath made it more fun than we thought it could be. Another point to the combat loving players.
In any event, after chatting with them, I'm happy to report that we all had a blast. These guys are already planning our next meet in 6 months or so, and are stoked for the concept behind the Rod of seven Shards/Mega-Dungeon theme (one of my players has been around since the 2E "Night Below" days (which oddly had a crap ton of fondly remembered RP moments). Their backstories still fit as chasing Iramine is happening off AP at various interludes, one already has a major backstory in Magnimar, and the witch player just has to meet up with a different witch at high level. Luckily there's a higher level enemy witch in nearly every AP, lol.

They do want to keep Burnt Offerings as an extended prelude and oddly it works. The Sihedron star (without shards) will be found with Nualia despite her not knowing what it's for. She likely found it after discovering these chambers in Thistletop, etc.

Overall, Runelords so far has been masterful, but as above, YMMV based on your table.
Thanks for reading :)


Please understand, the following are just opinions and musings of mine. To those that like this AP as is... more power to you. :)

Recently, I've been re-reading my APs. Serpent Skull has been "meh" for me. I'm ok with the first 4 books except that the City of Seven Spears needs further fleshing out and some tidying up, so it doesn't feel like 10 people just threw some random stuff together and painted it orange like the cover.
The biggest gripe I have with this AP is that I realize that I really hate the Urdehfan. I just don't like the flavor, the cenobyte look, etc. I'm also a big fan of Underdark adventuring like the old "D" series of AD&D.

My solution was simple. I've replaced all Urdehfan with Drow using mostly just the Monster Codex.
1) All Urdehfan Guards were replaced with Drow House Captains with 2 more fighter levels added.
2) All Urdehfan Skirmishers were replaced with Drow Master Scouts with 4 fighter levels added.
3) Belkor was replaced with the Drow Demonic Champion with 4 more Anti-paladin levels. This was a fun build btw.
4) Izon is replaced with the Drow Matron Vulissakra Rasivrein, not much work here except eliminating her magic domain. The Demonic Apostle archtype should only have one domain.

The explanation of these changes in short...
House Rasivrein was nearly decimated recently by a secret alliance between other houses. The survivors under Matron Vulissakra fled Zirnakaynin, etc. Finding the legendary city of Ilmurea and plundering it's secrets had always been on Vulissakra's agenda, now she's determined to find it and plunder it for items of ancient power to strike back at the rival houses, perhaps even Ydersius returning might suit her purpose, if the old god can be pointed at Zirnakaynin.

It's a story in progress. A jungle romp with solid Darklands adventuring flavor kind of brings this AP into my top 5. Now I just have some work to do with the City of Seven Spears...


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Book 5s of most APs always seem to need some heavy reworks on my part, probably due to my playing style more than anything.

What I'm not liking...
1) Kingdom building and Mass combat. These will be in the background but he latter seems more prevalent in this volume than any other (understandable as there is a "war" in the title). Omitting this will leave an XP deficit, minor hurdle.
2) Irovetti's Castle. The map has a bazillion tiny rooms, I would have liked a more classic floorplan without every closet. This will likely be a tedious slog without some major overhaul to the map.

What I'm liking...
1) The political intrigue of the tourney.
2) The Abbey, Briar, etc.

What I may do..
I'm thinking of subbing in parts of Ironfang Invasion #5 instead with Arlantia possibly being Nyrissa's insane sister or daughter, maybe going a tad too far with the blight. There's lots of cool evil fey stuff here to fit well with KM.
If I use Irovetti, I may make him a prisoner of Arlantia, possibly caught on his way back to Pitax to prepare for the PCs possible retaliation/assault on his keep. If I do away with Irovetti completely, Nyrissa is simply using Fey and subjugating Humanoid factions to use against the PCs, kind of simpler.

I may use the tourney and attack it at the end. Arlantia's forces take Irovetti and find out his interest in the Abbey and/or Briar. This gives me a second faction trying to get Briar, mostly for the insane Arlantia to use against her sister or mother Nyrissa, to take her place as ruler.
Either way the party has to venture deep into the Blighted lands to free or eliminate Irovetti before he and his kingdom become tools for Arlantia (a blighted Irovetti slave gives her keys to Pitax). Ultimately this throws Pitax into turmoil without a leader and frees up the group to focus on Nyrissa without having to invade Pitax.

Any opinions?


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At the moment, I'm compiling ideas for my new campaign which will be either Kingmaker or Carrion Crown. My group has been reading the Player's Guides to these campaigns and will decide between the two by the end of the week.

In between making notes, I happened to read through some of the newer modules and loved "Down the Blighted Path" by Monica Marlowe. It seems like the perfect add-on for Kingmaker with more Fey based antagonists and the one thing the campaign was missing.... a Darklands trek.

Behind the scenes...
1) Zohir and Hargulka are both agents of Nyrissa involved in a two-pronged assault on the Southern Greenbelt. The Dancing Lady is another of Zohir's minions and is awaiting her arrival. Unknown to Zohir, she secretly reports directly to Nyrissa hoping for an elevated position of power later.

2) The Dwarven outpost (area R) was overrun by Hargulka and his Trolls, forcing the remaining survivors to split into two groups. One group trying to return to Davarn for reinforcements, the other group fled to the old elven tower led by Erna Stoneheart (area G), to seek help from the new surface kingdom they have heard rumors about.
The dwarves managed to send a message to Jubilost that they would be temporarily holed up at the old elven tower until soldiers from Davarn were dispatched. The dwarves that fled to the tower had no idea that it was occupied by the Dancing Lady and her minions. They also have no knowledge of any evil fey let alone Nyrissa or her plans for the region. Narthropple arrived too late, his Dwarven friends were killed to the last and he was the only survivor of his expedition trying to bring relief supplies.

Area specific changes.....
Area C. The Narthropple Expedition's only survivor Jubilost is looking to recruit help from the fledgling kingdom's assistance on behalf of his trade partners, the Dwarves of the far off Darklands town of Davarn. Jubilost Narthropple has been a long time surface contact for Davarn.
Davarn will become a permanent ally of the kingdom if the PCs liberate their outpost from Hargulka and destroy Zohir and her agents/recover Firebrand etc.

Area G. This will be the location of the Darklands entrance. The dwarves are supposed to be temporarily at the abandoned elven keep (instead of their trading outpost which is currently in the hands of Hargulka and his trolls) currently controlled by Zohir's forces led by the Dancing Lady. Furthermore, Rigg Gargadilly is the brother of Vashana the Swift (in Blighted Path). Drop the Insanity trap in G7 and possibly replace it with some Bone Legion warriors sent by Sarxa/Zohir.

Alterations to the Down the Blighted Path module.....
Skip the whole festival and Davarn proper. The adventure begins when the PCs defeat the Dancing Lady and clear the old elven tower ruins.

They come across the body of Erna Stoneheart, and find a journal on her. The journal explains that the Bone Legion dwarves were originally the barebone guard detachment left at the Redoubt as it was a place of honor. It further details her plans to ask the fledgling kingdom for assistance until forces from Davarn could be sent for. The journal also contains a rough map leading through the Darklands to the redoubt.

This adventure fits perfectly with RRR with the exception of XP advancement of course, but I'll probably go to the Slow XP track during the blend. Same with Varnhold/Fellnight.
Hope someone else finds this appealing too. :)


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could it be?


I don't need to tell anyone who hasn't played this to pick it up, do I?

Awesomeness and one of the best CRPGs of all time.

Yumm.


Less than a week, can't wait.

I've been missing RTS games to the point that I almost installed Command and Conquer 3 again. Looking forward to the new Star Craft.


After spending over $100 on getting the various new Marvel restarts, I've had enough. Nostalgia had me hopeful that I could get back to some of my favorite heroes of my child hood, Reality woke me up faster than a flatulent noise in church though.

I've read the following new book restarts until their current issues...
Avengers
New Avengers
Uncanny Avengers
Captain America
Hulk
Thor
Iron Man
Fantastic Four
FF
Superior Spider-Man
All New X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
X-Men Legacy (utter crap btw)
Cable and X-Force
Uncanny X-Force
Savage Wolverine

Marvel lost me at Civil War originally (except Planet Hulk at the time), but the new Marvel universe is totally unrecognizable to me. Still a boatload of Avengers books, and X-Men books. Now they are even being blended together with Uncanny Avengers (not too bad btw), and Shield Agents are EVERYWHERE! In almost every book, even the new Uncanny X-Men this week.
The books seem to have lost their separate identities with the Shield glue, and some books are like Marvel decided to go to Bizarro World. Wolverine the headmaster, and Cyclops is the new black sheep. Still stale stories messing with time again and again, this time by bringing the younger Cyclops to the future to deal with his older self. Nightcrawler is dead, Colossus is hanging with Cable and more upcoming mutants than the eye can see. During all this Logan finds time for a vacation in the Savage Land.

On the other somewhat lighter side, The Red Skull has Xavier's noodle, The FF is now pretty much a kindergarten for weird kids, Dock Ock is in Spider-man's body trying to nail Mary Jane, Hulk is working for Shield, Iron Man is trying to nail a Shi'ar chick, and the Avengers roster is so huge that If I was a super-villain, I'd either retire or take my chances in Metropolis or Gotham.

All the decades taken to define these characters, wrecked in the past several years. Newer talent like Remender, Aaron, Bendis,etc. just don't hold a candle to people like Miller, Byrne, Claremont, David, etc.

The only barely passable titles were Superior and Thor. Uncanny Avengers is great from a logic perspective, it was a matter of time before the Avengers had a co-op grouping with Mutants to maintain the peace so to speak, but the Red Skull/Xavier brain story is thin.

Whew, end rant. I cancelled all my Marvel pulls at my local Comic Shop. I'll stick to DC and Valiant.


Going to sit this one out before it begins. Thanks in advance.


Opinions?
Thinking about catching up despite my anti-Marvel tastes. Is it a waste of money? Does it still feel like you need a bazillion other titles to keep up?


Is anyone else reading them?

I must say that Harbinger and Bloodshot are better than the originals. X-O Manowar and Archer & Armstrong are good too. Haven't read Shadowman yet, but the writing on these books has been pretty solid.


Consistently crap to the point where I look at my pile of books for the month (arranged from meh to great) and get lazy to start reading.
The single reason for me buying these was a shred of hope to see the Titans reunited. I'm giving up. This whole Harvest deal just brings back crap memories from the Image years where creativity took a dump like yesterday's burrito.

Time to shed 3 pounds.


While I'm not that interested in the 2E reprints, I would buy the AD&D reprints in PDF. Anyone know if these are available in PDF?


I must say the expansion has been enjoyable so far. Horde side quests are fun and varied, I really enjoyed the FPS quest chain. My disc/shadow priest is 87 ATM in the Valley of Four Winds. The Temple and Brewery dungeons have been fun too.

My only issue is the sever my mains are on. Area 52 remains overloaded and locked with que times at night reaching 1500+. Last night I transferred my Resto Shammy (3rd fave toon) back to Garrosh Alliance because of the que ($55 faction/server xfer fee). I'll be there during the eves until it all balances out.

The alliance quests are similar of course but it's always fun seeing the other side's take on things.
Overall, WoW has been fun again. The only "meh" expansion for me was Lich King and the beginning of Cataclysm (but only because of the healing changes in the beginning of Cata). Cataclysm, once the healing classes went semi-back to normal was epic. I loved the changes to the old world and the return of Ragnaros pre-nerf. Dragon Soul was another uninspired ToC though, imho.

MoP's art and setting are wonderful two zones in so far. Quests are varied and fun, the loot system seems like its changed as my priests quest rewards seem to only be stuff I can use now, no more junk like swords, etc. I'm waiting for the better loot. So far as a previously 402 Priest, I have only swapped out 3 pieces but I have much better enchants on my old gear. ;(

/end post.

Btw, anyone else on Area 52 Horde or Garrosh alliance?


Please cancel this preorder. I'm going to go with the PDF version instead.
Thanks :)


Doesnt this come with the free PDF? If it does it's missing from my downloads page, I did get the shipping email today though.

Can someone look into this? Thanks. :)


I'm off all summer and I've been craving a different MMORPG. I'm bored to death of WoW (currently 4/8 heroic DS 10man) and I can't bring myself to log in.
I've reactivated SWTOR (Shadowlands server/still Sith) and playing economy Rifts, (Wolfsbane shard/Guardians this time around) free to level 20.

The new Raid news about GW2 kinda burned that bridge for me so I'm not sure I'll even try it now. Nothing else out there interests me.

I don't know what the purpose of posting this is, pretty sure I'm semi-venting until I decide what I'm going to stick to. It's leaning toward Rifts again though. The game still looks great, with killer lore, and the raids look pretty good.

Anyone else playing SW:TOR or Rifts? Anyone gung-ho about the upcoming GW2?


For AP#56, please change it to UPS Ground instead of standard mail. Thanks :)

All future AP issues seem to be set to UPS Ground which is ok.


Last week I stopped at a comic shop in LI (where I was just passing through from a Roosevelt Field Mall trip) on Jericho Turnpike. I wanted to see if I could snag a first print of Avenging Spidey #6 and Punisher #10, because they crossed over with a current story arc in Daredevil (the only Marvel book that I read).

While there, I noticed a good selection of back issues at VERY reasonable prices. I asked him if he was interested in buying my old collection, about 46 boxes worth (4000+ books) for a low bulk offer.

He looked at me and said most of us who are looking for the books that I had are the older sort, and were collecting at that time and probably have most of them. Books from the 60's were easier to sell, etc.
Then he adds "the people nowadays that buy comics are..." and he makes a gesture of himself holding a gameboy or PSP and adds "they dont really care about back issues". We then talked about me making more on ebay, shows, etc.

I was kind of saddened by this not because it would be hard to get rid of my old stash before I move, but because most of the newer comic generations really missed out on what good comics were all about. To them the New 52 Teen Titans are "THE TEEN TITANS", the new Peter Parker publically known to be Spider-Man is the original Spider-Man to them. It's all about splash page art, characters that have "Dead and Blood" in their names, etc.

So I feel even older now, yet happy that I got to experience the books like Frank Miller's historic Daredevil run (which this shop owner said he would unload for a dollar or two a book if he still had them which is sad indeed), Claremont's Uncanny, Byrne's FF, Norm Breyfogle and Kelley Jones Batman (among others), the old Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes (even Giffens awesome run), etc.

I am somewhat hopeful of DC at the moment despite the butchering of the Titans and mixing well loved characters into other books to sell (like Red Hood and the Outlaws and Ravagers). The other mainstream books have been good so far.
Every time I loook at Marvel's tables at my local comic shop and see 20 x-books, 19 A-books and even a title called The "Avenging" Spider-Man,etc. I get sad and yearn for the old days.

YMMV. Just a semi-rant and some opinions here. Hope no one takes it the wrong way and gets offended.

P.S. I wound up getting the variant cover versions of the 2 books I went in for because thats all they had. They were stickered at 20 and 15 bucks each, he gave me both for 20. I felt crappy about even spending that much on Daredevil tie-ins considering I will cancel DD this weekend.


Please cancel all my subscriptions for now, except my preorder of the Runelords Anniversary.
My home group disintegrated awhile back and Ive had no luck finding a new group locally. My table-top RPG GMing days seem to be at an end. :/


Woot!


....Check the box to package the modules with my other subscriptions. Can you do this for me please? Thanks, I'd like to save whatever I can with shipping charges.
:)


I havent had time to open my last 2 shipments until now. Both AP#53 and Dragon Empires Primer have water damage in the bottom left corner. The AP volume a little less but the lower binding is warped. The Primer is wasted.
The Box has a slight crush in the corner but no dried up water spots.

If anything can be done, I'd appreciate it. If not, I'll re-order a new #53.
Thanks :)

Tide of Honor Binding water dmg
Primer water dmg
box no water markings

Late Edit*** I don't know if it's UPS fault tbh, so I'm prepared to repurchase the AP volume if need be.
Belated Thanks for the holiday card btw.


My regular group split up awhile ago, so I've only been in PbP games recently. Are there any local PFRPG groups out there? Maybe starting?
Looking for a non-public venue, have car will travel, etc.
Also Non-Manhattan location, getting out there at a decent time at night is hard due to work.
I'm the older type so prefer the same. :)


Besides the last one made?


Title says it all.
In both GoodReader and iBooks, Forest of Shadows artwork and color appears very dark. Even the names at the bottom of some of the pics in the PDF are almost blacked out.
I've tried to redownload the file a few times, still the same issue. All the other PDFs are fine (including 51 and 53 the previous volume and the one after).


As above please cancel my Campaign Setting and Module subscriptions only please. I'll buy the stuff on a product by product basis.

I still want to keep the AP and Companion subs though. :)


I was just going through my Goodman folder on my hard drive and browsing the DCC pdfs. I really miss these modules and wish GG made some Pathfinder stuff.
I've been following some of the DCCRPG threads but their upcoming game system isnt my cup of tea (zocchi dice, spell effect variations, etc).

I wouldnt mind an adventure or two from Harley Stroh, Adrian Pommier, and Mike Ferguson (besides his River Kingdoms article) for Pathfinder.

/Nostalgiac Sigh


Best console franchise ever!

If I didnt have to work tomorrow, I'd hit Gamestop's midnight release later tonight. This is one of the most anticipated games of the year for me.


By reading the various AP threads, alot of folks seem to care that much for the ending chapter(s) of a particular AP.
As I read through of Shadows of Gallowspire I started thinking about this for some reason. I'm not big on the end caps myself but I must say
that Sound of a Thousand Screams (Kingmaker) and Shadows of Gallowspire (Carrion Crown) are excellent end caps for their respective APs. Kudos to Richard Pett and Brandon Hodge.

Thousand Screams blooms, high level Fey/First world encounters, and final showdown realy came together in a nice package. Alot of high level modules go all over the place with creatures, this one stayed Fey from beginning and added an evil-wonderland, semi-planar feel to it.

Shadows of Gallowspire also stays true to the Undead theme of things without being overdone. Between the Witchgates, Renchurch, and the amount of detail to the Whispering Way Cult's workings, It really drives the point home that you are at high level with some pretty grim consequences if you dont succeed (i.e. Tar-Baphon).

Anyone else have any particular favorite end caps?


Must pick up my pre-order today! I am a big fan of Arkham Asylum, and with all the 9+ rated reviews on the internet I'm really looking forward to this sequel.
Meh, I'll leave earlier to head back to work so I can stop at gamestop on the way.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

SPOILERS AHEAD!
Just read it.

I liked it for what it was, an action packed first issue. I agree with the review (in the reboot thread, props to Joela) of Hal's personality, even though Hal Jordan is supposed to be fearless, the recklessness is abit much.
If they are trying to go the overconfident rookie route, they succeeded and it will take a severe hero-questioning mistake later to reign him in.

All in all, not too bad IMHO. Despite it's flaws I liked it. Is it an earth-shattering debut? No. It's a team book with many characters to cover probably in little time, so it was as good as I expected it to be.

Team books take longer to build on characterization based on the number of them in a single title. Give it a few issues before you decide it's horrible, and try to be impartial if you loathe the idea of a reboot.


I bought comics recently after quitting the hobby many, many years ago. I dabbled occasionally through those years, but never more than a few impulse "I was bored as I walked past a comic shop" books.

After reading Here Comes Daredevil #1-2, Captain America #1-2, and Punisher #1 yesterday, I've decided that Marvel still sucks.

Daredevil was one of my all time favorites as a kid (#158 was my first comic book btw) wasn't too bad (loved Mark Waid's Flash/Cap) but suffered form having an idiotic fill-in story in the very first issue of a walk through the city with Foggy. Umm...Why? Why didnt the debut issue have just one full-length story.
Issue #2 suffered from the obligatory "Marvel's <insert superhero> is hot right now, lets throw him into the book to try and sell more copies" thing. Captain America comes to throw down for a few pages which does nothing to advance the main story from #1.

Captain America #1-2 - Brubaker from what I'm told is very popular now, I dont see why from these issues. Story is ok, but another WWII character found still alive is sort of like cloning spider man again. Add a kid that opens dimensional gates/realities in WWII as the reason the other guy is still alive, and the cheese factor goes up.

Punisher #1 - One my least favorite characters but the best starting book of all 3. Great dark and gritty atmosphere, but suffers the "Image Comics" effect. Lots of art, little writing. I know comics are a graphic medium, but I prefer more dialogue.

I may or may not continue with DD/Punisher. Cap definately is out.


Nothing earth-shattering in the video game world until October for me so my oldest WoW buddies got me to resubscribe/reroll (off of work all summer until sept. 8th anyway so I figured why not). I also transferred my 3 main toons to Llane (Horde).

Look me up as Desna (85 Holy Priest), Gozreh (85 Resto Druid), or Stormwracked (85 Resto Shaman, semi-retired) if any Paizonian WoW'er wants to say "Hi". ;)


Woot! We get to play Death!


Im sort of prepping Kingmaker to maybe run it as a pbp. Being that I love Neil Spicer's Realm of the Fellnight Queen I came up with a blend that keeps all of Varnhold intact, and adds some Fellnight coolness as well as some foreshadowing for Nyrissa for those that want to do that too.

Copy/Pasted from my Kingmaker outline...
1) Rhoswen (an agent of Nyrissa) arranged for Willas Gundarson to find the ancient tablet which eventually led to Vordakai's awakening. Rhoswen knew Vordakai would deal with the village in his own way clearing it for her use. The veil between the Stolen Lands and the Fellnight Realm is weakest in Varnhold's location. Mist now surrounds Varnhold at all times and the Spriggans (subjugated by Rhoswen's promise of power via transformation into Fellnight Spriggans) are there to assist Rhoswen into bringing the Fellnight realm into phase with Varnhold by keeping it clear. They have recently dumped the wardstone (only using 1) in the hex southwest of Varnhold (use the Dead Man's Drop encounter). The only thing keeping Rhoswen from phasing in are the residual energies left by the wardstone which will diminish over time.
Vordakai is aware that someone is using Varnhold and the Spriggans but not who or why as of yet.
Other notes...
1a) The Drunken Treant encounter (too cool to drop) will remain to promote the story of weird Fey happenings in the direction of Varnhold and that the mist is a very recent event. He can also point the PCs to the location of the Wardstone if they dont get it from Agai or the spriggans.
1b) Rhoswen will eventually attack the PCs either before or after Vordakai and hint to the existance and machinations of Nyrissa upon her defeat. She will reveal that the Stag Lord and her defeat will not stop Nyrissa's plan for the region (to tie the Stag Lord into the BBEG thing if the party has not figured this out by now).
1c - Optional) Tenzekil. Originally, I was going to have him as Rhoswen's agent as in the module, contacting the Spriggans and place him at Dead Man's drop guarding the Wardstone. Tenzekil and Elyin Ursage are from Varnhold instead of Belis, and Elyin was about to marry Oksana Leveton, Oleg's niece. I was going to introduce Oksana and Elyin in KM #1 right after the PCs deal with the Thorn River bandits, and reveal that they are on their way to join the "other" expedition led by Maegar Varn. I was going to have Oleg upset that Elyin would drag his niece into the a dangerous wilderness expedition, Svetlana would be the encourager, etc.
The only bad thing is that Tenzekil's backstory would probably never reach the PCs until Elyin and/or Oksana get rescued from Vordakai's Tomb. So I will likely not use him.

1d) Late Edit*** Wardstone can be broken (the Treant can tell them this as well), causing it to immediately reappear in the Fellnight Realm.

Thoughts?


Looks awesome so far. (gameplay trailer)


I figured why not create this kind of thread to help GMs look for players if they are considering running a PBP. If this gets popular, we can ask for a sticky.
Please only post from a completed Character Sheet/Profile clickable avatar (click mine for example).

Let's use a standard format like...

Character Name: Kordel Mordaen
Race: Elf
Class: Rogue
Level: 1
Character Creation Method:* 20 point buy, 2 trait
Books Used: Core/APG
Campaign Choice(s):** Carrion Crown, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Serpent Skull

* can rework to 15 point buy or whatever GM desires.
** start with first choice, can rework traits and backgrounds to other campaigns.


I'm on the fence. Not sure this will grab me. I'm also turned off by the thought this game will be so easy to make new DLC cases for and I dont want another money sink.


and why? :)

With the many APs out there, played through, read through, still going on, I was wondering what other Paizonians considered to be their favorites. :)

Please pick just one. If its a tie, pick the one you would want with you if you were shipwrecked on Smuggler's Shiv with a few other players.

For me it would have to be Kingmaker.

Even though I would run this without the kingdom building (the rules are abit clunky to me), the feel of it still speaks to my old school likes of early tabletop RPGing.

It is open enough to insert just about any kind of side-trek you could want ("hexploration" ftw), yet focused enough to have a final uber-goal of founding and defending a kingdom. I also like the varied locales such as the forests, hills, swamps, etc. with several adventures sites sprinkled throughout.
Besides for the hack and slash standard fare, there is an equal amount of RP opportunities. Solving mysteries like the Varnhold Vanishing, diplomatic solutions (and building possible alliances) like dealing with the Kobolds, Centaurs, Boggards, etc and fun stuff like the Festival in War of the River Kings.

There's something for everybody, moreso for the folks that like to get their hands dirty with the actual kingdom building.


I had to cancel my credit card and get a new one due to the Playstation Network hack (i didnt want to take chances). I just got the new card today and logged it with my account.
Can you put through my order again at your convenience. :)

Thanks, and sorry for any delay on my part.


Just installed this almost 10 year old gem on my uber-pc. Oddly it runs widescreen high resolution from the settings menu. Same with the sequel Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.

I forgot how much fun this game was way back. Comic book fans shouldnt miss this (though older fans will probably appreciate it more). One of the best super hero video-games ever.


So I just built myself a super-uber PC and there's nothing interesting out game-wise. Nothing good on my PS3 even since Dead Space 2.

Playing Borderlands on my PC ATM, isn't there anything decent coming earlier than oct/nov? Even the summer looks bleak for video games.


Ok title says it all. Im really just gauging at this point to see if some people would be interested in this.

Im looking to possibly start a CC ap via Maptools and using voice on Ventrilo or skype (if skype conference calling is free). If we use ventrilo, I will supply the server. The game will be weekly or biweekly (not set in stone im still re-arranging my own schedule), and probably a weeknight using Eastern time on my end (Im in NYC).

Some requirements...
1) Adults please. Not that Im doing anything adult natured, just prefer older gamers as im kinda old myself. :)
2) 4 PC's and PFRPG core only. APG is ok, but no 3rd party stuff yet.
3) Please no min/max'ers or character hoppers. Id rather have interesting PC concepts that you would like to play long term instead.
4) DO NOT post characters here, Just let me know if you are interested and what kind of character (class and a small concept paragraph) you would like to play.
5) Please WAIT till the Carrion Crown Player's Guide is out if you can for your concepts. Should be up early this week iirc from an Erik Mona post, as you will be able to take 2 traits (one of course a campaign trait from the guide).

Now for an interesting twist (at least I hope so)....
I may start us at sort of "0-level" and do a "prequel" Crypt of the Everflame using NPC classes (level 1 Warriors, Adepts (if you are planning on a caster type in CC), etc), these will disappear when we finish Everflame and are about to start the actual AP. Everflame encounters will be downshifted to accomodate this. The NPC classes will be replaced by your normal classes at level 1 in time for the AP, though you may be a few hundred XP into 1st level from Everflame when we begin the actual AP.

The 0 level everflame is just an idea I had wanted to try as an AP prequel, based on Goodman Games' 0-level module idea. It isnt set in stone and if folks would rather skip it, thats fine too.

So.... "got interest?™"

p.s. This wont start for a few weeks as I need time to read the Player's Guide myself as well as the first module when it's released, though the everflame prequel could be sooner.


This movie was fantastic. I bought the blu-ray and finally got to watch it last night. Chloe Moretz (from Kick Ass) is really brilliant here as was the kid who plays Owen.

One of the best Vampire films to date and great from start to finish.


Would this be possible?
It would be more convenient than having to reference 2 books.

Just curious :)

Late Edit*** Maybe include some errata even?


***thread title was meant to say "without" kingdom building or mass combat, sorry.

Im thinking about doing an online AP (maptools/ventrilo), Serpent Skull or Kingmaker.

Im pretty sure I could keep the Kingdom building parts in the background, but so far Ive only really read the first module in its entirety. If there are random events based on unrest, i could always add those in at certain points just like any other adventure.

Are the other modules still viable running this way?

Also, I know later there are rules for mass combat (armies). Being that im putting the kingdom building in the background, can I still run the mass combats without the kingdom building aspect?

I know the size and number of armies are based on the kingdom size etc, do the modules have some standard armies to be used without knowing the exact kingdom size? or do I need to know the exact kingdom size/scores to do this correctly.

Also if for some reason I choose to run the army clashes in the background too, will I need to replace a large chunk of a module to make up for it?

Just trying to see if this would be too much trouble running this way and any opinions are appreciated, thanks.

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