Tim Franklin's page

Is this just going to print the right number of books for the Kickstarter supporters? Or will it be available to buy as normal? (Without all the extra goodies, of course!)

Dear Paizo,

Please can you cancel all of my remaining subscriptions? Sadly buying a new house forces some cutbacks, and I already have a lot of great Pathfinder material waiting to be played.

Thanks for some top-notch products and service, and hope to be back again as a customer at some point in the future.

Regards,
Tim.

Dear Paizo,

Please can you cancel the following subscriptions:

PF Campaign Setting
PF Companion

and leave the remaining subscriptions intact (PF RPG and Adventure Path).

Many thanks,
Tim.

I will put a replacement copy in with your current subscription shipment.

That's great, many thanks,

Dear Paizo,

Just got back from holiday to my latest bundle of Paizo goodness (hence the late report), and I've received one item twice, and one not at all.

I have:

2 x PF#34 Blood for Blood
0 x Sargava, the Lost Colony

The rest of the shipment is fine.

Can you please let me know how to get a replacement?

Thanks and regards,
Tim.

WOOOPS! Could have sworn you said you had a boardgames convention until Sunday...lol..on me!

That was me - think there was some quoting strangeness a bit further up.

Tim Franklin wrote:

Let me know if I'm in, and I'll work up the character from there.

In.

Nate "Silvertongue" Adams

Human Bard 8, CG, Age 23

Growing up, Nate spent much of his time around the market-places and inns of Absalom. Not engaging in the scuffles and small sparring matches, nor lifting apples from the fruit stalls or copper coins from unwary travellers, as so many of his playmates turned to as they grew older.

No, Nate was there to listen to the stories. Tales of daring, high adventure, brave heroes and terrible villains. Tales of mighty blows struck against great evil, of eldritch sorceries wrenched from beyond the veil of reality, of gibbering horrors lurking in the dark places of the world.

All these tales he learned, and with them a way to tell tales of his own. Tales that might bolster or hide his role in a minor piece of mischief, depending on the audience, or smooth over his dealings with merchant or bar-keep. But tales also that would serve to inspire those around him.

Quick-tongued, quick of wit and quick with a blade, he grew. Sometimes too quick, as tongue and blade alike lead him far ahead of his plans, and often of his simple common sense...

STR: 12
INT: 16 (14 base, 4th- and 8th-level increases)
WIS: 9
DEX: 16 (14 base, +2 human ability bonus)
CON: 12
CHA: 16

HP: 8 (base) + 7d8 (levels) + 8 (favoured class) + 8 (CON): 7d8 + 24 ⇒ (3, 6, 2, 3, 6, 4, 4) + 24 = 52

Feats (levels 1, 3, 5, 7, plus bonus for being human)

Weapon Finesse
Weapon Focus - rapier
Dodge
Mobility
Combat Casting

Skills = 8 levels at 6 (base) + 2 (INT) + 1 (human) = 9
72 skill ranks

Knowledge (Local) (int): 6
Knowledge (History) (int): 6
Knowledge (Nobility) (int): 4
Perform (Oratory) (cha): 8
Perform (Sing) (cha): 8
Acrobatics (dex): 8
Bluff (cha): 8
Diplomacy (cha): 8
Sleight of Hand (dex): 4
Spellcraft (int): 4
Stealth (dex): 4
Use Magic Device (cha): 4

I'll press on with spells and equipment tomorrow, but just to keep you in the loop. Hope that's OK so far - please shout if there's anything that jars with what you're looking (or if I've made any mistakes).

Cheers,
Tim.

Anyone interested in playing 'Gallery of Evil'?

If there's still a slot left, I'm interest in playing a human bard (with a possible later path to duelist).

3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 3) = 14, 3d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 6) = 11
3d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 4) = 8, 3d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 2) = 9
3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4) = 12, 3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 3) = 14
3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 4) = 12, 3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 2) = 9
3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 2) = 9, 3d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 2) = 12
3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 2) = 13, 3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 4) = 16

14, 9, 14, 12, 12, 16 before advancement.

Let me know if I'm in, and I'll work up the character from there.

Thanks,
Tim.

We also strive to make every volume of an AP simply fun to read. Personally... if someone buys a copy of an AP and enjoys reading and never uses any of the material in that volume in any game he/she runs... I count that as a success! Adventures that are more like giant recipes in a cookbook built only to be reference materials you glance at during play are boring.

100% success on that front from me! I dropped my subscription after Second Darkness as I wasn't managing to play, came back by Council of Thieves as I missed my monthly reading.

Our goal is to keep ahead of the demand by making sure there's more APs out there than folks can play, to be honest. That gives people choices as to what campaign they want to start, and also helps to diversify the line; if you don't like the current AP, you won't have to wait more than half a year to see a new one. Of course, we hope you'll keep buying them anyway, which is why we put all those extras in them like new monsters and fiction and the like...

I WAS wondering how everyone was managing to play through an AP volume every month!

Then again, I've managed to run exactly ONE session, total, since I started buying Pathfinder. I'm not very good at finding the right mix of my time and other people's :(

There are people claiming they got 'lucky'.

I'm consistently 'lucky' with Paizo, but aren't books zero-rated anyway?

That said, I've yet to have a charge on games from GMT or Deep Thought imports from the US, either.

Regards,
Tim.

Nothing is broken. :)

Your order is all in and ready to go. It is currently making it's way through the shipping queue and it should be going out this week.

Thanks for the reassurance, and sorry for my impatience.

Cheers,
Tim.

Have I broken something by trying to bundle too much in with my subscription? 10 days since the "shipping soon" email... it's been two months since my last bundle of Pathfinder goodness so I'm getting withdrawal, and there's a Christmas present in there I'd like to get over to the UK in time too.

Thanks,
Tim.

Discussions like these make me happy that I don't use minis or a battlemap.

Out of curiousity, Lilith (or anyone else who cares to pitch in), how do you handle some of the more "mechanical" combat-related feats, and particularly anything relating to AoOs?

I've done much more narrative combat under 1e and 2e, but 3e/3.5e - and probably PFRPG, I've only just got the book - seem to have quite a lot of things that don't seem to make any sense if you're not playing on a grid.

Is it a case of shaping the narrative based on the players having a greater likelihood of pulling off certain kinds of moves? Do you find it needs a certain type of player - someone look for what makes a good game (at the broader level) or story, over a strong tactical game? Are there any problematic areas of the rules you chop entirely?

Sorry to threadjack a little, but this is something that I'm struggling with in my own mind, should I ever manage to get a group together again...

My copy is here - no thanks to Amazon. OMG it's HUGE!

By an astonishing coincidence, I have a three-day weekend booked, so looking forward to some serious reading...

Anyone know where to send the complaints e-mail to?

I just put mine in the "any other info" text box when I cancelled. I've never had a reply, so I don't know whether anyone reads it or not.

Anyone forsee the same thing happening with the Bestiary? Could be xmas before we actually can run the game with hands on books and everything!

Shipping for the Bestiary direct from Paizo is much more reasonable than for the core rulebook, so I've subscribed to be sure. If you were put off by paying double-price to ship the core rulebook, it might be worth looking again at how the numbers come out for the rest of the RPG line...

I know in our high level games, we just don't have enough dice to go around for some rolls.

You have gamers passing on a genuine excuse to buy more dice?

What I'd give to be able to justify my dice habit... *shakes head*

Chances to get books in the UK prior to second printing get slimmer by the minute. At least I did the favour to new customers not frequenting these boards and added a warning in the review (which othervice was very positive).

I saw that - nice review, and a well-placed warning.

That's a big help, thanks Lisa. If I can't track one down locally, at least I should be able to make myself an (early?) Christmas present from the second run.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I found one! Leisure Games just took their last copy off the shelf and into the post for me (thanks guys!), and did also say they were expecting a "small" re-stock shipment any day now.

So, anyone in the UK experiencing the same delightful Amazon "service", this might be a last-chance route to get a copy before November.

I have also sent Amazon a roasting about a) ordering enough to meet pre-orders, and b) sending *actual* expected dates when orders slip, not just repeated $NOW+2-weeks :(

/me bounces. PFRPG is coming!

Why didn't all the super-powerful good forces of Greyhawk just step in one day and wipe out Iuz? Mainly because there weren't all that many super-powerful good forces in Greyhawk.

Didn't Iuz get wiped out accidentally by a poorly-written barbarian with a hangover? Or is that not canon?

For those of you waiting for #26, we're getting to them. We were down a warehouse team member this week and it was only Jeff Strand with myself and Jeff Alvarez throwing in when we could. However, we added a new warehouse person on Wednesday (and for those who care, we are still looking for a third warehouse person, don't worry), and Will kicked his Paizo career off with a bang yesterday, getting quite a few subscriptions out the door. I assume that we will get most people shipped by the weekend. There are always a couple of problem children orders which may take longer, which is why I said "most." So hang in there! :)

Thanks for the update, Lisa. As long as there's still some on the pile and it's not just me, I'll stop worrying and get back to anticipating ;)

Im a subscriber, but my issue #26 has said "pending" since Monday, it is now Thursday, and I cannot download the PDF. Do I need to do something?

Me too. Just restarted subscriptions, PF#26 and Chelix both sat in "pending". I hope it will work...

The Mandarin isn't the only wizard to do the ten rings shtick. Susan Dexter's THE RING OF ALLAIRE has a sorceress with ten rings, and Carole Nelson Douglas's EXILES OF THE RYNTH has an epic-level sorcerer with the same.

The Sunrunners from Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince series too. Not so direct in terms of effect, but very much a link between rank, level of power, and number of rings.

I have added the Pathfinder #26 to the Cheliax book shipment, so this will be the new starting volume. As for the Pathfinder #25, Joana is correct, this one will have to be purchased separately.

Top-notch service as always, many thanks,

Thanks all for the advice. Basically what I'm hearing is keep things simple, and year long or longer campaigns are just par for the course with PbP.

The last time I ran a non-face-to-face game was by email, which we managed to keep going for around 2.5 years, 1999-2001, before lack of free time on my part brought it to an end. That made some decent inroads into, but was far from completing, the first book of the Night Below boxed set.

So eight months for a single AP volume seems pretty reasonable to me.

Any suggestions on how to keep players engaged for extended periods of time like that? At around the 8 month mark I had players asking "So why are we wandering around these catcombs again?"

NPC dialogue that reminds the party what they're up to is a win for me in any kind of extended game. Smart players will realise it's an in-game re-cap, but unless they also have perfect recall, they'll tend to be grateful.

One thing I did find kept the momentum was to push the players for options in their posts, especially in combat. So not just to react round by round, but to present me with an "if... if... if... else..." plan, so I could (hopefully) run a few rounds of combat off-line and present in a single reply.

Obviously that stops if something drastic happens and the players need a chance to re-evaluate. I did find it much better, once everyone got the hang of it, than waiting for every player every combat round. On the down side it can get quite involved for the person running it...

You should have had the option when adding your subscription to your cart to start with either the current product (#26) or the next one (#27). That said, when Cosmo and/or Allison get back in the office on Monday, I'm sure they can adjust it for you. Sadly, I think you missed #25 being the current product by about a week, so you'll have to order it separately.

Yeah, I did for the PFRPG (Core Rulebook or Bestiary) and Companion (Cheliax or, er..., something else), but the AP didn't give me any choice other than #27.

I'll see what the customer service folks can do for me on Monday.

Thanks,
Tim.

Dear Paizo,

I've just restarted some of my subscriptions (order #1214536) - after six months of no new Paizo goodness, I realised I miss having your products to read, even if I'm not managing to play at the moment.

However, my AP subscription is starting from October, #27. Is there any way I can roll this back to start from #26, or even #25? Or have I firmly missed the boat there, and I'll need to order them separately?

Thanks and regards,
Tim.

The November estimate is the one we have for the books being all the way to the end retailer. We should have the books ourselves in early October more or less, so allowing two weeks to make it through the distribution channels gives us the early November estimate.

That's a big help, thanks Lisa. If I can't track one down locally, at least I should be able to make myself an (early?) Christmas present from the second run.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I would have had no problems buying full-price from Paizo - I like Paizo to get all the money rather than paying a third-party to hold boxes in a warehouse - but paying the cost of the book again in shipping was impossible to swallow.

Orc's Nest are out, Leisure Games claim to have stock on their web site, but I've had some rather heated fallings out with them before over the accuracy of their web site stock information (or rather lack of). I might give them a call in the morning...

Just received the following from Amazon for my Core Rulebook order, placed 24/7:

We regret to inform you that the following items have been delayed as we are still awaiting stock from our suppliers :

Jason Bulmahn "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook"
Estimated arrival date: September 17 2009 - September 24 2009

Can I assume that this is a typical Amazon big fat shipping date lie, and that if there were any copies to be had in the distribution channel before the November re-print, they'd have had them by now?

Did *anyone* in the UK actually get a copy from Amazon?

Also, question to Paizo - is the November estimate for the reprint to have the book off the presses in China, or in the hands of distributors? If the book has to go China -> Paizo -> UK -> Amazon -> me, I'm guessing there's little chance of acutally having it my hands for Christmas at this point :(

Sorry to rant a little, just trying to get a handle on what's going on so I can set my own expectations accordingly...

Dear Paizo,

Please can you cancel my subscriptions to both Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Pathfinder Chronicles after the current order for PF#18 and the Second Darkness Map Folio ships?

You're producing some excellent products, but I've bought enough from you over the last year or so to last for several years at the rate I get to game, so regretfully finance and space dictate an end to the regular subscriptions.

I'll hopefully still manage to pick up individual items as and when they really grab me, so I'll look forward to more great things from you in the future.

Thanks and regards,
Tim.

Please cancel my Pathfinder Companion subscription - while I really enjoy your products, I'm finding myself getting new material faster than I can even read it, let alone use it, so I'm having to start cutting back on the subs.

Many thanks,
Tim.

What warhammer armies does everyone out there play?

I'm painting Space Marines (Ultramarines - yeah, I'm boring and conventional, but I like the blue), 'nids and Tau, although I'm a very slow painter and I rarely get to play. I just enjoy painting :)

I think some of the Eldar models are very cool as well, but after painting all the hard-edge highlights on the Space Marine and Tau armour, taking on another bunch of smooth, shiny models may be more than my aging eyes and fingers can handle.

Has anyone painted any of the crazy Forge World models? I bought a set of doors for Land Raider with loads of sculpted Ultramarines icons, rather than trying to paint my own symbols on, and they look great (unpainted - we'll see what my paint job does to them). I keep drooling over things like their titans (12"-14" tall!) and some of the aircraft (Imperial Guard, Eldar, and Thunderhawks), but the prices are way off in divorce-land somewhere...

I'm starting next Friday, with the following:

Dwarven Cleric of Irori
Shoanti Ranger
Varisian Sorcerer
Half-Elven Bard

It'll be my first time face-to-face DM'ing in more than a decade (one PBEM for about two years in the interim), so I'm grateful to Paizo for inspiring me to pull a group together, excited and nervous in fairly equal measures.

Two of the players haven't played since red-box Basic set days, and one of them never, so I'm hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew... :)

Tim Franklin has given you some thoughts on competition play.
My input would be, unless you love nit-picking details and are prepared to spend hours at a time checking through the latest rules updates on the Wizards of the Coast website, AVOID COMPETITION PLAY AT ALL COSTS. There are rules points out there (such as are all lands still swamps or not if you target an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth that has been animated by a Kormus Bell with an Ovinise?) which drive me to distraction and which in a formal tournament may kill you if you think you understand them but do not.

Just to comment on this, all of my advice was geared around FNM play, which in my experience is *nothing* like the above, and pretty much as far from hard-core "competition" as you can get, unless you're lucky enough to have friends who play who are already friends through other avenues.

FNM is supposed to be "just a bunch of guys at your local store", and for me at least works out a lot like that.

"Real" tournaments, with significant prizes, feeds into other higher-level events, etc, are I'm sure far more driven by tiny obscure corner-case rules - I've yet to play at anything more hard-core than a pre-release, which was more formal, but not still not really in that league.

I missed out on all the hoopla when it came out. Now I'm ready to learn. Any pointers for us newbies?

Try and find a local store or group that runs Friday Night Magic (FNM). It's a fairly light-hearted format, people are generally willing to correct you, give you pointers, or occasionally let you back up something disasterous, rather than leap on you for tiny mistakes and pound you into the ground.

Don't think that you have to spend a fortune on the game. One way to keep playing quite cheaply is to focus on draft events - you'll pay more for the event (typically the cost of three boosters, plus a little to cover the organiser's costs), but at least you're on the same footing (in terms of cards, if not player skill) as all the other players. Constructed, even at FNM, can have you going up against people who have spent hundreds of $LOCAL-CURRENCY on cards that you don't have access too.

Even easier than draft, to start with, is sealed deck - you're not worrying about which cards to keep and which to pass on, just make the best deck you can with the cards you have. It's pricier again than draft though, and doesn't (at least locally to me) run as often.

Prepare to lose, quite a bit. I started playing last autumn, typically a couple of sessions a month, and I'm just starting the scrape the odd win through. Don't worry too much about it, as long as you're still enjoying yourself, look at what the other player is doing and how they've managed to win.

Don't worry about having to know every card. Some of the people you play with will be walking Magic encylopedias, but it's enough to pick up as you play a few games what are the really hot cards and which are the stinkers. Draft is especially helpful for this - anything you keep on and on seeing being passed around is probably a stinker! Take a look at the cards you've got, and look for abilities that work well together, cards that seem cheap for what they do, or simply that look like they might be fun to play.

If you want to play constructed, have a look at the Magic website for the 'Building on a Budget' column. You're probably not going to win a championship with the suggested decks, but you can at least have some fun against people with the larger, rarer card pools to construct from, without having to spend a fortune on cards yourself.

Hope you find a good group of players, and get to enjoy yourself.

EBay may be an option - thanks for the suggestion.

Amazon also carry a range of Paizo products, and accept both debit cards and personal cheques, although not PayPal. I got one of the last copies of PF#2 from them long after it was gone from B&M stores...

Wow...Pathfinder Pizza, get a subscription so you never have to wory about ordering your pizza for game night again! Pathfinder subscribers can take advantage of the Pathfinder advantage bonus! Great idea.

Even on express shipping, that's going to take at least 6 days to the UK. And with express shipping, it becomes about a £30 / $60 pizza. I'll pass...

I am very astonished by the shipping costs proposed in the check out routine: 39.85 USD shipping costs to Europe for two books?!

The pricing is about what I'd expect - *for 6-10 day priority shipping*. I think the question you need answered is why there's no "regular" (9-36 day) shipping available for these items...

Mike McArtor wrote:

This thread has become surreal.

No. Wait. It was always surreal.

Does that mean it's now surrealier? Surreally? Sir, really?

+2 Surreal?

Surreal bonuses don't stack.

Mine finally turned up on Friday - just over a month after shipping - which is "in spec" for the shipping method, but (in my experience) unusually long for US -> UK.

Well, here's my shot at a map using Dundjinni. It's the first level of Foxglove Manor (of which I've done all levels for my game. The map is huge, being 7.4 megs. It should come out to be battlemat sized for those who may want to use it.

Photoshop thinks it's 800 pixels per inch, which makes the whole thing about 5 inches across when you print it. Preview agrees, so I think there's some odd info embedded in the file. The artwork is nice, but without a visible grid, it's hard to tell how to scale it...

I'm in the same boat.

#908185, PF#7 on subscription, shipped 17/03, still not here.
#907449, a couple of Player's Guide, flip map, map folio, DM screen, Guide to Korvosa (enough to make a box, not an envelope), shipped 19/03, arrived 28/03.

I know it's not the worst-case 36 days yet, but it's a bit odd...

My copy is also missing these maps. Are they supposed to be included?

The page count matches the product description - 2 poster maps, and 15 single sheets.

I see not covered:

- Catacombs of Wrath
- Seven's Sawmill
- Shadow Clock
- Graul Homestead
- Hook Mountain Clanhold
- Several 'Lair' maps from Spires of Xin-Shalast

I don't yet have PF#4 and #5, so I don't know what's included in those but not in the Folio.

Seems fairly intentional that it's some of the maps, not all of the maps.

Regards,
Tim.

8? Haven't even gotten 7 yet. Delivery's quite slow this time.

Me neither.

1. Steal all PF#7 copies heading outside of the US.
2. ???
3. PROFIT!

It's those gnomes again, I tell you!

I just got my March shipment with 5 books + Harrow yesterday here in Denmark with an additional 25% VAT + some zoll.... but more importantly, the import post office has increased its handling fee for EACH package above a value of 13 us$ to 30 us$.... absolutely crazy. So I got to pay some 25 us$ in vat+zoll combined and and the additional 30$ in handling fee just to be able to recieve my 86 dollar Paizo package (including p&p)!??!?!
It is a crazy world ;-/

Have you tried Amazon? I know amazon.co.uk carry at least the monthly Pathfinder APs, and the price is about the same as Paizo's subscription rate (although obviously you don't get the Pathfinder Advantage discount on everything else!) If shipping from inside the EU dodges all those fees, it should work out a *lot* cheaper...

That's where I first got into Pathfinder via #1, and also managed to get hold of the elusive #2 just a week or so ago.

(For the UK there is no VAT on books, and Customs don't charge any fees at all on packages less than a certain value, so I still have my subscriptions.)

Cheers,
Tim.

I deserve them because I have a pregnant wife and I promised her that I would stop buying MtG cards and that I would not start any new collections, but I have received four packs of item cards free. Now I have these cards, but may not purchase any more. I also live in a country where there are no gaming shops and no bookshops that carry Paizo or WotC product, so everything must be ordered.

We have a winner! Half a collection that you can't finish cries out to my obsessive-compulsive side for mercy ;)

Drop me an email with your postal address, and I'll get them off to you.

Cheers,
Tim.

or us computer people - Data structures class: "everyone repeat after me: a stack is last in first out a queue is first in last out"

I think you mean a queue is a FIFO, not a FILO ;)

But yeah, while coders use "queue", as far as I can make out, standard American is pretty much always "a line" (for the noun) or "wait in line" (for the verb), in respect of people waiting. English has "queue" for people in much more common usage.

Many thanks to Paizo for the free pack of item cards in with my last order, but I really have no plans at all to use them. (I opened the pack to have a look, they're nice art and all, but...)

So, as long as no-one at Paizo objects to me using their message boards to re-give away stuff (and apologies if they do), free pack to the best justification as to why you deserve them :)