Thomas Keller's page

Picture of Grefu looks like one of Lovecraft's Deep Ones.

Wear your mask, folks!

Well, if they didn't want, as you call it, "yoyo healing/dying", why didn't they make it when your character hits 0 hp, they die?

Honestly, this rule change has so disheartened me, that I seriously wonder if I want to continue playing this game.

Phones at a games table? That's a recipe for disaster.

Eh, I'll stick with Foundry.

When will this become available?

PossibleCabbage wrote:

Yeah, the reason the flickmace was very good on fighters (and champions) is that it is a flail and the flail critical specialization makes you prone and those are classes with AoO.

The flickmace is still the best weapon for the one handed version of this build. Which goes to show how out of bounds it was before.

But now some of them will look at the damage die and the feat costs and decide that they want a Warhammer instead, or they will go two handed and use a Maul or a Glaive instead.

Only costs one ancestry feat if you are human trained in all martial weapons.

Thomas Keller wrote:

Would Paizo ever consider doing a Humble Bundle of physical books? My eyes aren't the greatest and I get a headache if I look at a PDF for more than a couple of minutes.

Most of our Bundles include a singular physical product. Examples include the Core Rulebook or Beginner Box for both Pathfinder and Starfinder. We chose not to have a physical product this time because of Kingmaker shipping.

But all physical books? Or even multiple books? No. As I understand, Humble Bundle allows us to do this as a special exception. Most partners are not allowed to as their model is to provide digital content. And bluntly, we would have to charge a lot more for a physical bundle.

It is going really well however!

Okay, I'm glad the charity is making money. I'd just like to participate.

It wouldn't have to be a rulebook. I get all of those. A whole AP would be nice, for example, like in this bundle, only physical books, and maybe maps and pawns.

Would Paizo ever consider doing a Humble Bundle of physical books? My eyes aren't the greatest and I get a headache if I look at a PDF for more than a couple of minutes.

Man, I can't wait for this book! I started making a monk PC, then decided to wait for the book, as he's from Jalmaray. Come on, October!

Is this any different from the three books already out?

Making books for a system that they haven't made new material for in three years?

I don't know about unprofitable, but 1e still seems to be fairly popular.

It's unpopular and unprofitable.

What is?

And so it begins...

It is when you've been corrected multiple times and keep perpetuating it.

Well, I guess two is a multiple. Regardless, as I said I'd forgotten about that conversation from a year ago. I was wrong in what I said then, but please don't ascribe malice to a faulty memory.

Thomas Keller wrote:

Didn't think he was into second edition at all.

No, you've known; multiple users have informed you of the fact, such as in this post from May 2021, in addition to your own admittals that your understanding is obsolete. Here's just one of his blog posts that dive into things he loves about 2e:

Ryan Costello wrote:

The action economy, obviously, but it really needs to be considered how good that is. There’s a reason 2e works better than 1e with three actions house ruled in. This is the foundation on which a great game was built. It makes thinking about your turn much easier, because you aren’t juggling as much between the concept of what you want to do and the mechanics of making it happen. [...]

Confining characters to three actions at all levels also helps with higher level play. As a fan of martial characters, 1e made any turn that I couldn’t stand still and full attack feel like a punishment. The higher the level, the more you lost not squatting. Being able to move and still attack twice, or more twice as far and still get an attack, adds dynamism and complexity to a martial’s turn.
Moreover, I like 2e spellcasters. The oracle specifically is a class I’ve played in both editions, and while I struggled with the experience in 1e, I love it in 2e. Similarly, the 1e paladin was never a class I paid much attention to, but as you’ll see in the new KD Adventure Series – Trouble In Otari Part 1, the champion’s focus spells give the class a lot of flavourful flexibility. There’s no combat in episode 1, but in later episodes you’ll see me mix up casting and fighting in such a satisfying way.

Now please stop harassing this man with false claims.

I don't really think it's harrassing to forget a post from a year ago.

Didn't think he was into second edition at all.

Thomas Keller wrote:

Are these real books or the PDF variety?

A PDF doesn't make the book any less real.

No, but it would make it inaccessible for the person I would get it for.

Thomas Keller wrote:

Are these real books or the PDF variety?

The ad copy specifies they are official digital copies, exactly as real as a physical one.

Some people's eyes don't enjoy the PDFs, and everyone doesn't have tablet readers.

Are these real books or the PDF variety?

This is just another reminder to myself that there is no point in going on the forums.

I will just reference a Mark Twain quote and call it good.

Have a nice day.

No need to be angry. Looks like you got an answer from Mr. Morgantini.

Everyone going, please be safe.

Yes! Looks like there will still be a large online component!

Best of luck, Mark. I'm sure you'll continue to do great things at Roll for Combat, but we'll miss you being on the Paizo team!

Personally, as a painfully shy person, I'm loving the virtual cons.

We need some clarification on critical hit immunity. Does it nullify Deadly, Fatal and critical specialization effects or not? I've seen different developers say that it does and it doesn't. Help!

This thread is 9 years old.

Yes? So?

As a brand new GM who would like to run APs, but doesn't have the time to draw my own maps, this is disappointing.

Dang it.

Are there printed maps for this AP?

When I was in the US Army stationed in (then) West Germany, the local folks who worked on the base used "comrade" all the time with us. I took it basically to mean "work friend".

firegazer wrote:

Welp, time to put our money where our mouth was, everyone.

Perhaps, but there is still a lot of us who never put much weight to Paizo acknowledging the union, a step that was virtually inevitable given the near unanimous support of the staff. Now, the real work begins. I will continue as I have from the start of all this in that I will return to my purchasing ways if/when Paizo demonstrates a change in their practices. All of this is still just talk. I am happy for the union and their progress to date, but I am not yet satisfied.

How would they demonstrate change to your satisfaction? Not trying to be argumentative, genuinely curious.

RyanH wrote:

Email sent... let's hope Paizo secures a position as a leader and trailblazer in this industry by voluntarily recognizing the union. A strong and healthy employee-management relationship will result in a stronger and healthier Paizo... good for everyone.

p.s. United Paizo Workers... you should sell shirts with that awesome graphic. Use the proceeds to start developing some union funds.

Here's the shirt/merch I asked for!

Yep, got a shirt and hoodie. Here's hoping Paizo does the right thing and recognizes the union.

In medicine there’s a process called open disclosure. It’s a big topic to describe meaningfully, but it basically involves sitting down with the patient (or often the surviving family of a deceased patient) and explaining: here’s what happened, here’s what we did wrong, here’s what we learned, here’s how eve changed and learned. Is there anything we can do to help?

There’s often pushback from doctors on the grounds that admitting fault “opens us up to lawsuits” but the research is clear that one of the big advantages is that it decreases litigation. Turns out the world isn’t full of people trying to make a buck out of their trauma - people want to be heard, want to understand what happened and want to know it’s not going to happen to others in the future.

If you’re not willing to do the right thing because you might get sued, then you’re not willing to do the right thing.

Very well said. As pure speculation, perhaps Paizo is trying to work out some kind of settlement with the lady in question to avoid such a thing. I know that businesses move slowly and people are frustrated and I hope we see some concrete policy statements soon. I really hate seeing the people here hurting, especially our trans brothers and sisters who have enough crap being thrown at them all the time. I hope you feel safe here on the forums and with Paizo in the future.

Thomas Keller wrote:

At this point I'm wondering what will satisfy people. What, precisely, do people want here?

I've stated mine very clearly probably half a dozen times now: communication from the top that admits they had transphobic abuses within the company, an apology for that, and tangible change in policy or staff to ensure no trans person suffers for their identity within the company again.

Others have made their desires clear in their posts. I assume you haven't read them; it's well worth doing.

Yes, you've been very clear and thank you for that. I fear you're setting yourself up for disappointment, because it seems to me admitting they had a transphobic policy would be opening themselves up to lawsuits. I'm no lawyer, so if I'm wrong about that I think your requests are completely reasonable.

I'm afraid that I haven't kept up with every single post here and there are many pages to go back through. What I have seen are vague calls for accountability, and I'm not sure what that looks like.

At this point I'm wondering what will satisfy people. What, precisely, do people want here?

I know it's not really staff members I want to talk about but still:

I want to thank Kobold Cleaver, Cori Marie, Mergy, dirtypool and everyone else willing to stand up to protect other people of our community (and make no mistake, every former or current Paizo employee IS part of that community), even if that means facing direct or indirect threats made by some individuals that just can't be bothered with basic human decency.

We might disagree here and there, but I hold you all in the highest regards nonetheless and consider me lucky to be part of the same community.

You're beautiful people and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

100% agree with all of this.

I expect they'll steal a bunch of stuff from 2e, like they did with Tasha's, and the gaming journalists will gush about how "innovative" WOTC is.

To be honest, I find the whole debate over corroboration tasteless, which isn't a comment on anyone taking part in it. It just doesn't really matter to me. Jessica corroborated the account, and Amanda certainly hasn't come out denying it, which are both, even being conservative, decent suggestions that it's true. Paizo has refused to deny it, and has even very indirectly admitted that this was a problem, which should encourage even the skeptics to take these allegations seriously. This would be easy for Paizo to deny, particularly as there would be multiple witnesses who could testify to it not being true. Why wouldn't they want to nip it in the bud? Why instead go silent in response? Some people might take, say, Lisa's word over Crystal's, but do you expect us to take a silent brick wall's word more seriously than the word of a trusted community member?

Fundamentally, I don't really need any of the above. Crystal said it was so, and I believe her. Nobody at Paizo has asked me to assume their innocence, so I won't.

It's probably just the critical thinker in me. Corroboration goes a long way to help establish a claim. I'd never heard of Crystal before this, so I couldn't make any firm judgment about what she said. I am pretty familiar with Amanda though and I'm pretty confident in her veracity. As you said, her lack of a denial is evidence in itself, and I'm sure her new employer has advised her not to comment.

As an aside, I'd just like to thank you, Kobold Cleaver, for your posts on this. I'm not very involved in the community here, but I think you and Cori Marie have really shone as genuinely thoughtful and kind people during this time. Thanks.

I misspoke by claiming that the person who corroborated Crystals account was Amanda when in fact it was Lissa.

Thank you though for making sure the conversation moved in a direction to hold me accountable for that piece of information. It's an odd flex given your previous statements regarding Paizo accountability, but I'm sure you have your reasons.

Nothing personal, I just like everything to be as clear as possible.

Thomas Keller wrote:

As there has been no response to this, I will assume there has been no corroboration.

On which specific allegation?

To quote dirtypool: "Who provided a corroborating witness in the form of the woman who had originally volunteered to share a room with her. The witness substantiated her claims."