The Mad Comrade's page

ZeniMax happened to them.

There is some gold in them thair hills.

This version of "Survival Mode" feels better polished.
The crafting system is expanded upon. Tiered-by-level gear allows gear to incrementally improve along with the characters.
The "no one else is around" vibe works well for me. What doesn't are mutant mosquitoes - they have no place in Appalachia IMO. If there are super-mutants than those should be excised as well.

I do wander around in Fallout, especially in 4. Especially when you throw in a few choice mods. 1500+ hours and I am still discovering things.

What I am very disappointed in with 76 is just how buggy it is. 3 years of development with most of the assets already in place from Fallout 4 should have resulted in a much more polished game. Couple that with no modding support, online-only and multiplayer/PvP-whether-you-want-it-or-not in the current state ... meh.

I've suggested this before, so forgive the repeat:

Fast-forward everyone to the Boss Fight at The End. Award XP/apply milestone to desired level, award gp budget. PCs are advanced BEFORE the session begins. This should be doable.

Then throw down and go out, one way or another, with a fang!

Playtesting doesn't do anyone any good whatsoever if the rules are not being tested.

Between being a new rules set and adhering to the rules as understood the logical consequences are a higher fatality rate.

Oh-ho, they're/you're entering Chapter 5 with far more knowledge than most PC's would have.

Good luck. *grins*

Could have been identical twins. Could have been that Aethusa figured out a way to magically "copy" themselves, one of them going one way, the second another ...

Go moorlock beggar mob! Use those overbearing rules!

Wrong system? Pffffft. ;)

Or, y'know, morlock troops. Lots of them. *grin*

Armor already provides 100% damage reduction by way of AC. If an attack meets or beats the AC, the damage bypasses the damage reduction.

Another way of looking at it is that AC is "Defense DC", the same way that save DCs are (10+[stuff]) and opposed checks are now a set DC, e.g. Athletics DC is (10+Athletics) or a character's Deception DC is (10+Deception).

PF2 is not designed around an active defense paradigm. A lot of other game systems are, Pathfinder and D&D are not and never really have been.

Just remembered another one from the last session. While the party is walking through a marsh I tell them from somewhere in the trees they hear eerie lute music. Dave, playing the Investigator, asks, "Is there accompanying banjo music?"

A lute is a precursor to the banjo ... ;)

I'm rooting for Waifu Bara as MVM (Most Valuable Monster). ;)

Not disappointed in the slightest.

I think I might houserule it that without the specialized lore you can only repair items, not create.

In fact, while the text doesn't indicate that directly, the table for item creation implies it, as there is NO column for untrained.

Page 143. Craft's untrained use is Repair (activity).

I could rotate the sheet on my Browsing System.

Starting at 0 XP is a bit weirder.

Every Paizo-published Adventure Path starts characters at 0 XP. The lion's share of 3pp campaigns also start characters at 0 xp.

I'm not sure what your point is. Care to clarify?

True. They need to do a Se7en type movie with Carnage.

That would be epic.

Are there plans in the works for a decent amount of 20th level playtesting within this window, perhaps during Q4?

We won't really know for 3 or so weeks I think.

Access to only one book and not a full book at that for a playtest can make a lot things feel kinda of samey.

Presuming that the PF Beta is anything to go on, a lot of what we are seeing will not change over the coming year.

Maybe another page or two per class for 12 classes, probably a bunch more spells (although I don't see much of a need for more) and of course more magic items. All in all there seems to be a good chance that the Nouveau Pathfinder CRB won't greatly exceed 400 pages, perhaps even coming in just under that page count.

The Mad Comrade wrote:

KuniUjito wrote:

I'm just curious. what if you have three players that didn't roll above a 12 and one character that rolled 18's across the board? Do you just let that player dominate the game because he rolled well at character creation?

If that is what was agreed to ... yes.

The downside to being so much above the rest of the pack is that it has a really nasty habit of drawing unwanted attention from the opposition.

If nothing else, Darwinian survival will eventually result in characters largely at parity to each other.

OR

You assign the "uber ability scores" to the player with the least system mastery - many tables have at least one - whilst the more seasoned players take on the slightly-above-average folk as a challenge to be overcome.

Yes I agree, that's what a good Gm would do to help balance play. Kind of like a good game system will try to balance play among character creation so that everybody starts off on the same footing. To be fair I have only ever used point buy for character creation so I am baised in this.

I've played numerous systems including the generations of D&D and 3e/Pathfinder and a dabbling in Starfinder, often making use of random ability score generation.

No small part (for me) of getting a feel for a character's backstory and personality comes from randomly generated ability scores. This is the one thing that is left on the cutting floor so-to-speak with point-buy systems that do not have some method of taking behavioral limiters - in Nouveau Pathfinder they're being called anathema - in trade for something positive in return.

I dunno, maybe I'll roll a set of scores to "get a feel" for the character then use the standard chargen methods to match as close as possibly permitted systemically. Might work better. Otherwise, being accustomed to other systems that reward characters mechanically for accepting behavioral limitations, most of my PCs gravitate towards fairly simple personalities with as little as possible in the way of behavioral inhibitors as a matter of best-chance-to-survive.

I'm just curious. what if you have three players that didn't roll above a 12 and one character that rolled 18's across the board? Do you just let that player dominate the game because he rolled well at character creation?

If that is what was agreed to ... yes.

The downside to being so much above the rest of the pack is that it has a really nasty habit of drawing unwanted attention from the opposition.

If nothing else, Darwinian survival will eventually result in characters largely at parity to each other.

OR

You assign the "uber ability scores" to the player with the least system mastery - many tables have at least one - whilst the more seasoned players take on the slightly-above-average folk as a challenge to be overcome.

My issue with hard caps is that PCs currently appear to have a hard cap on ability scores of 24 (+7).

A quick skim through the playtest bestiary reveals an apparent systemic hard cap of 30 (+10).

So long as it is possible, however unlikely, for player characters to obtain a 30 in one or more ability scores, I am fine with a systemic ability score cap.

Rare and Unique "stuff" being required for this to happen is fair so long as it is possible.

This was super-dupers smooth today. Congratulations on a job VERY well done to everyone involved!

Although someone will make a form-fillable sheet, it would be best if it was a free download from Paizo.

This way Paizo could make sure it works, all the things add up, and can even include annotations and extra stuff to make it easier for someone to roll up their first PF 2.0 character.

Other things that can be done with a PDF:

Things I would add that you can attach to the base character sheet (like how Chronicle sheets are attached in PFS):

Spell sheets - Blank sheets that spell information can be added on - It's easier for someone to look at their character sheet for what a spell does than look it up in a book, especially once more books come out with "what the...?" spells that GMs are unfamiliar with. Ideally, each entry would have a field for book and page number for easy reference if you gotta check the book.

Deity TL;DR - A sheet to attach with your Deity's info, such as alignment, domains, etc. and what they want to see you do -
This would help Divine casters act like their bosses want them to.

Were Paizo to have a form-fillable and page-addable sheet, this would be awesome.

Especially a sheet that did the math for you (since there are no more variables as far as character creation are concerned). This should go a long way to rapidly clearing up confusion as to how the "engine" is intended to work.

Many AP publishers do this, unfortunately. FGG is one of the few that regularly publish campaigns beginning at a level higher than 1st.

I'd love for Paizo to step up to this particular plate to take a swing at it.

Maybe in Nouveau Pathfinder?

Did I see another symbiote ripping Venom off Eddie?

Looks like it, yes. Think it is bonded with the CEO villain.

Today is like Monday ate Tuesday and fissioned off a second crappy day at the start of the same week. ;)

Drejk wrote:

Retire? Is that something to eat?

No, I think it's something they do to your car.

My guess is that 'retire' will become a euphemism for the deception leading us old farts into a Soylent Green processing center.

Second trailer has been released.

I was laughing at the parts where Venom is discussing eating someone to their face.

"Eyes. Lungs. Pancreas. So many snacks, so little time."

"We will eat both your arms and then both of your legs, and then we will eat your face right off your head. You will be this armless, legless faceless thing won't you. Rolling down the street. Like a turd. In the wind."

Good times.

Cut it down to 2 sessions - 1 to get through to the Really Kewl Throwdown. As much as some / most of your players may not enjoy the process of leveling up ... level them to end-of-AP, dole out the swag and get to slayin' some snake folk!

They can be wrapped up before school begins, hopefully?

Entire world, natch.

What kinda selfish asshat would only help their friends?

The devil is in the details. Most 20th level Wizards are not likely to have unlocked the secrets of immortality off the back of a package of Keebler Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies (now made from real elves!) as a DIY recipe.

So it is entirely possible that the only type of immortality a Wizard may be able to confer that doesn't involve creating the undead instead involves either limited wish-powered reincarnation or becoming a golem of some sort.

Now that is a racket and a half: I am the only source of reliable eternal youth (via reincarnate). Time to pay up rich folk! Use the proceeds to perform pro-bono reincarnate, proceed to go insane from the overwhelming public attention.... erm, lemme rethink that plan ...

*whistles* That is a verdict I don't recall EZG "awarding" before.

It didn't. DMCal is referring to Elric of Melnibone methinks.

yeah I have a hard time figuring out what regular folks should be doing in these situations. (You know besides running and screaming) I also feel like the last movie over advertised Bryan Cranston for how little he was actually in it.

Mentally I boil down his presence in that film to the parts where he's not in it. Shortens the film by a good 20 minutes or so.

Frankly ... monster brawl movies do not need people except as toe-jam and fleeing hordes. The cost to make 90 minutes of good monster stompage these days however ... not sure it's exactly affordable.

Also, people seem to want to see people in these films for some reason.

LET THEM EAT NUCLEAR BREATH WEAPONS! ;)

Not going to argue with 'sex sells' marketing regardless of preferences. :)

There was a turtle-looking thing in one shot... plus Gojira/Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah. So four for sure, perhaps 5. Someone will have pulled the teaser apart to find as many monsters as possible within 48 hours or so is my guess.

Why didn't they get an actor with actual muscle tone instead of just padding his suit?

Maybe the actor submitted the lowest bid for the role? ;)

Holds promise. Guessing DCEU finally started learning some of their lessons...

Not a fan of the hoomanz premise ... but good lord there's a lotta big monsters in that trailer. 4, I think?

For a DCEU offering ... this looks like it might be fun.

Given subsequent information, the motivation is likely irrelevant.

Just examined this in deeper detail. The political motivation is all-too relevant.

Well, there are feats and traits and whatnot that can make up for some of that. 10 levels' worth, I dunno.

Pathfinder companions I've found to be utterly "meh" once you're entering mid-level territory. They make great super-tough mounts. Other than that, I hate the division of a character's gear budget typically required to keep them up and running.

OTOH, the carry companion spell is Your Best Friend. Keep your trusty pet/mount/pet attack rock in your pocket once the game outstrips their usefulness as a direct attack minion.

I know the feeling. Half the time when I schedule a game I have no idea who is going to show and who isn't. Okay, I know that one girl will always be at least an hour late... *eyerolls*

If you schedule the start time session by session, e-mail her that it starts an hour before what time you tell the rest of the players. ;)

We landed on the moon 49 years ago. What's up there anyways?

Dust, rocks, a bunch of litter ... probably some trash too. ;)

You can thank Fiege / Disney / Marvel for forcing that massive series of shoehorns to 'work' in Age of Ultron.

Missus Turin and I found ourselves feeling that this film was ... flat.

If your GM says you cannot die, then you are immortal and cannot die. Play like you cannot die and see how fast your GM changes their mind.

How many necklaces of fireballs can you get your grubby paws on? ;)

Nice. Already pre-ordered it directly from Owlcat some months back. They're supposed to send me a Steam key whenever they get around to releasing this puppy.

Edit: 25th September of this year is the latest release date. Gonna guess that with taking pre-orders on Steam and G.o.G. that they're locked in pretty firm now.

End of September though ... mrrrggghhh ...