Telhuine's page

Happy belated! Glad to have you back.

To piggyback on Joshua's post, it has been said several times that no item will be discussed publicly, save for people who are specifically asking for feedback on their own items. I don't see Clark breaking that trust for our amusement.

Thanks, Maeloke. I appreciate you taking the time to write down your thoughts. Yes, I agree that it would be much easier to have a cleric cast the spell. But, paladins never get the ability to cast 5th level spells, so I'm not sure he'd be able to carry around scrolls of it and cast it himself... Certainly not without some risk of failure at least.

As far as how often it can be used, I toyed around with the idea of tying it in to spending a smite ability or channel energy ability, but since those renew every day, I thought that would be a bit much. Once every 2 weeks felt about right, though I may switch it to once a month. I'm still on the fence about that one!

Edit: And I don't think I need to list conjuration in the aura because the item itself won't have that aura. Too late to edit my post though - whoops!

As far as I know, PEACH means "Please Examine And Critique Honestly"

Hi everyone. I thought about putting this in the Superstar threads for peer review, but I just started working on it tonight and didn't want to cut in front of someone else waiting for a Clark review (me included!). So, I'm hoping for a little peer review here. While this item would work for anyone, I have it in mind for my group's paladin. He is presently trekking back to a large city in the middle of a dungeon crawl in order to have commune cast due to some rash actions on the part of another party member. I am so fortunate to game with dedicated roleplayers!

As the only divine-type character in the group, and being unable to cast commune on his own, I thought this might be a nice item for him. Hopefully not too nice though! :) The major concern is something else happening in the future in the party and him trekking back to a town again, which - while awesome - puts a pause in game play for everyone.

If you have the time, would you mind letting me know what you think of the item overall? How's the pricing, etc?

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Hieratic Tract of Consultation
Aura moderate divination and conjuration; CL7th
Slot -; Price 19,460gp; Weight -
Description

This small piece of parchment contains religious scriptures of the chosen deity. It must be placed inside a phylactery of faithfulness to function. Written by the hand of a planar ally faithful to the deity, it confers the additional benefit of allowing the wearer of the phylactery of faithfulness with the hieratic tract inside to ask seven questions of the associated deity or their representative as per the commune spell. The hieratic tract can be used in such a manner every fortnight (fourteen days).

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, lesser planar ally, commune; Cost 9,730gp
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Thanks for your help and opinions!

And now I continue with my “being the Judge” experiment. This time I will tackle page 2 of this thread.

I noticed one thing I often did in my previous review: I compiled questions about the items. I guess that is my way of evaluation. I most cases I think I know the answer to the questions, but I think the item should have answered them, not my experience with the game and it's rules.

My main focus today will be speeding up the process without loosing quality of evaluation and feedback. We will see how well I'll fare.
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if it doesn't use up the Arms slot it should have been listed as Slot : –
After all they are just healing potion-hand-grenades.
The sanctuary effect is nice, but not enough to make it interesting enough to be a keeper.
This is a good case of “nice but not more”.

Azmahel, thanks for taking the time to look at my Bracers of Desperate Measures. As always, I appreciate the feedback! I did mistakenly list them as an Arms slot. I guess in the new Core book, they would technically be a Hands item. Though if you look at the Necklace of Fireballs listing, they are listed as a Neck slot item but they don't count as an item worn around the neck when it for the purpose of determining which of a character's magic items is effective. It seems to be an allowed feature of an item.

Perhaps the hands slot is a different matter entirely, but I don't see how my item is mechanically wrong. I'm still thinking that it was simply missing the 'wow' factor the judges were looking for. If I need to relearn the rules, that is one thing, if I need to up my creativity, that is another. Thanks again!!

I'm not Clark, but here goes. I'm gonna see if I can't hit all the requests on this page.

It says it's arms slot, but it turns out it's no slot.

It seems to be consumable, but it doesn't say. It also took me a moment to realize that there are two CLW crystals, two CMW crystals, and one CSW crystal.

The save line is somewhat unclear about what you're saving against.

Thrown items do not use the standard ranged touch attack rules, and most characters cannot throw things 60 feet.

Hi Jared,

Thank you for taking the time to give me your perspective on my item. To be honest, I didn't think there was anything mechanically wrong with my entry. I just figured it lacked the all-important "mojo."

I should have just made it take the arms slot up and not tried to be like a necklace of fireballs. I hope my next year's entry is more creative and mechanically sound!

If you're at all bored, I, too, would welcome all feedback (including yours, Mr. Helt!) for my item posted on page 2. Thanks in advance!

We can certainly learn from the past and from the helpful feedback from the judges and our peers. I am not ashamed of my entry, nor the fact that I did not progress to the next round.

I didn't learn of the contest until about a week or two before the deadline. Had I had more time, I would have put more thought into what I was creating. I have a feeling that my item was viewed as an 'in a can' item - though I haven't received feedback on my item yet to confirm this feeling.

And, while not having a full version of the PF core rulebook didn't kill me (I'm pretty sure at least), I do plan on picking it up this year in anticipation of being able to create a more tightly constructed, relevant item next year.

Hi Clark - Thank you for all of your hard work. I am looking forward to hearing your opinions on my submission. Please don't pull any punches on my account. If I am to improve I need to hear it!

I welcome everyone's input, in fact.
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Bracelet of Desperate Measures
Aura Faint Conjuration and Abjuration; CL 5th
Slot Arms; Price 2,000 gp; Weight –

Description
This unassuming copper bracelet is set with five crystals of various size. It does not count as an item worn on the arms for the purpose of determining which of a character’s worn magic items is effective. As part of a move action, the wearer (and only the wearer) can remove one of the crystals. As a standard action, the wearer can throw the crystal up to 60 feet at a target creature by making a ranged touch attack. If the ranged touch fails, the crystal falls to the ground harmlessly and loses its enchantment. Upon a successful hit, the target creature is healed for an amount of damage determined by which crystal is thrown. The two small outer crystals each heal 1d8+1 of damage to the target creature, while the two inner crystals each heal 2d8+3 points of damage to the target creature. The larger central crystal will heal 3d8+5 points of damage to the target creature. If a crystal is held in the wearer's hand for a full round, the wearer then becomes the target of the healing. In addition to the healing that occurs, a sanctuary spell is placed on the target creature that lasts for 5 rounds (Will DC 16 half and negates the sanctuary effect).

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, cure serious wounds, sanctuary; Cost 1000 gp

Clark, would you rather us wait until the thread that you posted yesterday is unlocked by the folks at Paizo?

My guess is for later this afternoon... after Clark has had a long nap and a few Red Bulls. As of 30 minutes ago, the thread is still locked.

I'd imagine the folks at Paizo are just now getting to work (it's 8:50A there) and grabbing their first cups of coffee.

Congrats Watcher. Oregon! Represent! Haha. Best of luck as you go through the process. No more commenting on the boards for you. Get to work! :)

Congrats to those continuing their interview process! May your days be filled with progress and creativity. I look forward to following the rest of the competition.

I vow to read through your future submissions and continue to take this contest as seriously as you are. Best of luck.

A Paizo haiku... A Paiku if you will :D

Paizo R P G
Why must you consume so much
Of my busy day?

Ahhh. I made it to lunch time, which means that after my hour break there is only one hour left to wait!

I wish the Paizo IT folks well and much success over the next few hours. Thanks for doing your best to keep things running :)

Congrats to Neil for his important - and well-deserved - milestone and to Dave for an absolutely gorgeous cover! I hope it makes Paizo lots of monies thereby justifying future RPG contests so I get another shot next year!

True, true.. But it would be nice to have some face to face gamers in the neighborhood. I don't want to assume you're in Portland (where I know I could find a game), but I'm here on the Oregon/Idaho border. I could probably find some groups in Boise, but for the moment I'm in a dry spot.

Thanks to MapTools, I still get my game on though.

EDIT: unless Duckville is a real place! I'm new to the state.

Welcome to Oregon! I'm sure you can find a game in Boise if not a little closer to home. Good luck with that.

I'm actually in Eugene. The home of the University of Oregon. Our team is the "fighting ducks."

Telhuine wrote:

No fog here in Oregon, USA. There was a strong wind last night and some people lost power. Is the world trying to keep us all in the dark?

Clear skies in East Oregon! Not that I wouldn't much rather be on the West Side.

!! Things are pretty nice here in Duckville... Some cloud cover but dry (at the moment). Enjoy your sun. I have almost forgotten what it looks like.

No fog here in Oregon, USA. There was a strong wind last night and some people lost power. Is the world trying to keep us all in the dark?

Yes! Good luck to us all. If you are one of the 1000+ of us that are not picked this year, don't give up. If you love writing and write throughout the year, you can only improve.

Whatever the outcome for us personally, let's continue to support the awesome Paizo community and our fellow contestants.

6am on the 20th for me :) which is a shame coz the 19th (today) is my birthday :)

Happy Birthday! I hope you get a nice, albeit belated, present tomorrow from the judges, Aneki.

Telhuine wrote:

Is all of this talk about cutting facets taking the edge off the wait? *wink*

well, it's better than cutting yourself.

True. Best leave that bit to the judges!

Is all of this talk about cutting facets taking the edge off the wait? *wink*

Only because you asked.

Brazen statements must stand on their own. Explanation or doubt kill them on contact.

Haha! Point taken. An exception might be if the question was asked rhetorically for comedic purposes only. This is helping pass the time at least. We're a whole 35 minutes closer to the big announcement now since my last post.

Four determined days left, standing shoulder to shoulder against the night.

If my submission shall be blotted out by a judge... I shall write in the shade! Eww. Too corny?

Awesome! That is COOL!

There, we have emphasized all of the words in that sentence now and my mild case of OCD is satisfied until next time.

I will do it again this year.

Let me be the first to thank you for volunteering again. As a first-time submitter, I will be welcoming feedback from everyone but especially the judges. Of course, best case scenario is that I'm one of 32 and get to see it all anyway!

I'm not a big 'gusher' but I'd once again like to thank all of the judges for their time, help and feedback.

Anyone know any good D&D apps? Tomorrow I'm retiring my old Black Berry Curve so I'm trying to build up my app list. :)

If you search for '3.5e' you'll find a pretty decent experience calculator. It divides the experience between all party members though, so you'll still have to calculate when someone gets individual XP. I like it pretty well still even with that shortcoming. It helps me keep a running total of everyone's XP and levels.

A generic search for 'd20' or 'dungeons' brings up several interesting choices... and way too many dice rollers :) I prefer to roll real dice personally.

Hopefully Clark can find the time to critique our items after the first round. Can another judge or Paizo employee volunteer to provide grief counseling? Or at least a beer?

Of course, if the group has killed off the Kulldis tribe and the other occupants of the battle market, Kardswann will have some serious recruiting to do to bring a group up to the monastery. Perhaps he'd show up alone?

I meant to ask, what level was the group when they fought K? Another option may be to have them run a side adventure (like the ruined temple of Nethys) and pick up the 4th party member around the location they go to, gain their composure, confidence, and maybe another level then send them back to try K again.

Thank you all for the outstanding suggestions! CoB sounds like it might be a good fit and I'll be looking at Necropolis as well. I'm not sure I have the time to update Dark Tower to 3.5 but if I find it compelling enough, I may!

I appreciate all of your time and help.

Hi all,

I'm hoping I put this request in the right place. I thought about putting it in the Legacy of Fire section, but since my request/question isn't specifically LoF related, I thought this was best.

So, my gaming group wants to continue past level 15/16 where the LoF path ends. Does anyone have suggestions about what adventure would fit the theme that would take them from around 15 to 18/20?

I have a few ideas running around in my head for a home-brewed continuation, but if there is something suitable that has already been created, I'd like to focus on some other projects.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

My group fled out of the battle market after defeating the series of encounters on the battle arena, killing Ugruk, and killing the Harpy. Kardswann slaughtered a PC and Haleen (Luckily no one had Finding Haleen Trait). So, they beat feet out of the Battle Market.

Taken all suggestions on how I should direct the party so they can face Kardswann again.

I didn't submit anything, as I loathe rejection. :(

Sorry to hear that. I am sure you have more to offer the community than you think. Try to remember what Chaucer said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Or, one of my personal favorite Latin phrases... Fortes fortuna adiuvat which means, "Fortune favors the brave."

Hope you'll try next year!

Yeah. With Ditka, we aren't talking a repeat, three peat or even a four peat. It would be a minimum eight peat.

For me though, my choices for tops would be... whomever is currently judging my entry at the top of the list. Hahah!

Aye, I was curious about this as well. The competitive side of me would prefer to match my abilities against everyone including those who have already proven themselves.

While I understand the sense of fair play, I think I would have preferred to see all as eligible. Of course throughout the year, I am sure that many of the top competitors are/were tapped for one project or another.

I think for my first entry, my formatting was pretty good. I am concerned, like some others here, that my item is not priced correctly. I had to decide whether the price should be based on casting costs or what the cost of an equivalent potion would be.

I also think the item is useful and would probably make the cut for an updated book of magical items. But, seeing the incredible creativity that others have displayed even in their rejected items, it's not going to matter too much. Someone will be kind enough to think about it for ten seconds before recommending it for the circular file. *smile*

I'm still hopeful, but mama raised a realist.

As a first time submitter and new member to the boards, I have read enough of the past communications from some of the judges to know that whether my entry makes it to the top 32 or is rejected, it was given a fair shake. That is all I can ask for. I add my thanks to this thread as well...

Thank you all for your time and consideration.

Best of luck to all participants as round one's end rapidly approaches.

Happy New Year!

And to you!

I threw in too. I've also seen a number of people who I've either read their work they generously post freely here on the boards, through Open Design, or reading their previously published stuff post here that they've entered, and I'm really excited for what's to come. I think this is going to be a really fantastic season for RPG Superstar.

Since you welcomed me so warmly to the boards and wished me luck with my submission, I feel it only right and honorable to wish you luck as well. Good luck, Adam!

And I'll raise you a Happy New Calendar! I mean... Year! I can't wait to see who makes the top 32 and I wish the judges much patience and sanity as they weed through the entries.

For those in the Pacific Northwest like me...

How do you handle the influence of the moldspeaker with it's host. Does he talk directly to them, just give feelings, or something different?

I've been using the same philosophy as Dave concerning the moldspeaker. Flashbacks and thoughts that are obviously not his/her own, but not to the point where it is distracting/overwhelming. No compulsions requiring will saves. Tempest is not (currently) an intelligent weapon, so no conversations taking place.

Only started subscribing to PA Path this summer and just got around to posting on the boards yesterday. So, this will be my first time entering the contest (and I found out about it only a week ago). I have a feeling it'll be rejected as a boring 'in-a-can' item. But, like the saying goes, you can't win if you don't try.

If anyone is still on the fence about whether they should try or not, just do it already!

My 4 level 5 players just completed the undercrypt this last weekend. They were able to manage the battle well yet still be challenged. I think a level 4 group would probably have the ability attack-wise to finish off Xulthos, but my concern was for the amount of hit points the characters had. If you look at Xulthos' full attack and the damage he can deal, a party with fewer hit points likely will not last long against him.

My group seemed to enjoy the side adventure to the Refuge of Nethys, so I'd' recommend running it as a sort of intermission and allow the group to level up there before continuing below the church.