TomParker's page

Tickets bought and room secured! Now the long hard wait begins...

No, actually, that started the day I left PaizoCon 2018.

Of course, now I have to head over to the Shattered Star thread and get to work there. Here's my next 3D model.

That looks great! Glad they all had a great time.

Mousmous, Tinalles, can you both PM me your email address?

Mousmous, your work looks fantastic.

So I ran the final fight this weekend. Some questions that occurred to me should I ever run it again:

1. The disorientation from the anima focus lasts for one minute after they leave. Do you all think that should have continued in the Eye? I did not do that; they likely would have died had the miss chance been in effect for the first 9 or 10 rounds.

2. After the above discussion, I decided that the cave of the Eye sloped gradually out to a height of about 80' above the highest point—basically allowing for prismatic wall to make sense as a strategy. I ruled that his wall could reach the ceiling to a point about 10' to 20' in front of his throne. So he walled himself off.

3. Whether you choose Wall or Sphere, how does that function in play? Can he step out, cast, and quickened dimension door back behind his Prismatic X? Otherwise, how is either very effective? If he steps out, he can't step back, meaning he's opening himself up to multiple attacks each time.

4. Because I wasn't sure about that, he got stuck outside the wall at one point, and quickened DD behind the Runewell column. Someone flew over to look for him, Karzoug cast dispel magic on his celestial armor, and he dropped slowly into the lava.

5. The group did pretty well while they were out of Karzoug's range. He stayed near his wall, they took out the giants and dragon while he fired off a few long range spells. Once they got close and he was away from the wall, he used Wail of the Banshee, killing two members of the party outright. Then the paladin smote him.

Photos are here.

I finally finished my Rise of the Runelords campaign this weekend. Here's the compendium of the build for the Eye and some photos from the game night.

I will get around to making the throne and the Runewell of Greed models available on Thingiverse, Shapeways, or DriveThruRPG if anyone else wants to produce their own copies. I will also look into posting my Sihedron Circle models, once I've confirmed with Paizo that's okay. Those are more slavishly based on Paizo art and I'd like to make sure they're cool with it.

That really looks great. I’ve been trying to foam coat mine and it’s pretty difficult stuff to work with. Fast setup, and very hard to sand once it’s set.

On the plus side, the golden pillars are coming along nicely.

Mousmous, do you have any pictures after painting? I’m trying to figure out the best color for the “glassy” walls. Black would seem lava-appropriate, but I think it would make everything very dark. Gray stone seems okay but bland. I’d love to see how yours turned out.

And any other opinions welcome, of course.

Thanks! That's very helpful.

A couple of questions for all of you.

First, looking at the awesome summary of creatures and their response to an alarm in the community-created content, how did you handle an alarm? Is there a mechanism to sound the alarm, or is it just the Wardens in X1 shouting and then normal perception checks with appropriate modifiers for the others to hear? Did you just have everything identified as responding come running?

Second, in the Eye, how would you use Karzoug's prismatic wall? The AP doesn't seem to specify the height of the space, just the distance from the lava. Is prismatic wall very useful here? Karzoug's allies would probably have to stay away from it, and it might not go to the ceiling. Would you use it, and how?

Good ideas, all. I'd been thinking polymorphing him, but also like finding him as a statue. If I give her additional sorcerer levels she might be able to cast that.

That's very cool. I was not aware of that template. I might go that route if I have him participate in the fight, rather than just having him there is a non-useful state.

I understand you're not asking for spells that could be used, you just want some creative suggestions for the final effect.

Great ideas. Yes, it could be a spell effect, but doesn't have to be. Just things she could have done to the creature she manipulated/controlled now that she no longer needed him.

My players are going to encounter a couple of previous foes. This is really tangential to the overall story—they'll fight one of the enemies, and I want the other to have gotten a tragic comeuppance. Enemy B was a dupe of enemy A. What are good options for enemy A to have done to enemy B?

This could be as simple as her having polymorphed him, and them finding a rat or other vermin in a cage in her room, and finding enemy B's gear discarded in a trunk. Or she could have somehow transformed him into something more sad and miserable. What's a decent fate?

Key objectives—this is just a minor story element, they'll like seeing the wrapping up of a loose end but shouldn't be distracted by this plot point.

For those who want more context and know the AP, spoilers below. But the specifics of the AP aren't really important.

That is super cool!

My answer for Lucrecia was simpler (she also survived in my campaign) - I made her a Hungerer (that the players could vaguely recognize) and put her in X17 with Ceoptra. The transformation was punishment for her failures.

Thanks! And your solution is awesome, storywise. I was actually considering having a somehow transformed Kaven with her, who tracked her after she and he fled. My party would rather see him get a tragic comeuppance than her. Not sure what she should have done to him.

As an aside, I saw some mention having Lyrie in Xin-Shalast. My group wants to go full Runelords, so they’re insisting we do Shattered Star next. I think I’ll save Lyrie to show up there as a prisoner, possibly along with Shayliss who ran off for the bright lights of Magnimar between Rise and SS.

My group is finally at the Spire. Lucrecia had escaped long ago, so she's going to be there. Any thoughts on the appropriate way to make her level appropriate? I was thinking adding another 5 or so sorcerer levels.

And here's an update on the Eye. I have all the areas cut and am fine tuning, sanding, and coating. The pillars aren't in place in this photo, but I have them all cut.

I have a modeler creating the Runeforge. So it's all almost there. I have less than 30 days to finish. Ugh.

Will do. I don’t have any major change since the full layout above. I’m in the process of fine tuning the pieces so they are smooth and align with the map and each other. It’s laborious and time-consuming. Do everything you can to cut things as close as possible up front.

Also seeing some progress from my modeler on my 3D model for the Runewell.

Hey, James! I apologize in advance for the weirdly specific question—I'm thinking of creating some props for Shattered Star for my group.

Ioun stones have various shapes. All the art of items where Ioun stones are slotted, like the Sihedron or Wayfinders, seem to have spherical slots. How do you see those slots in your mind's eye? Does the ioun stone sort of merge and fit the slot when placed, does it retain its shape and sit within the slot, or does the slot magically conform to the shape of the stone? Or something else?

Again, sorry for the weird question. I'd just love to 3D model this for my party.

TomParker wrote:

Almost all the foam was cut with a Proxxon hot wire cutter, including those platforms.

What was your process for those rounded edges, though?

That looks great. It’s been awhile since I cut those, but I’m pretty sure it was just very slow freehand work on the Proxxon.

I see you've reduced the number of gold pillars, which is something I think I might also have to do.

I didn't reduce the number of pillars. They're just all in a box waiting to be painted. I put one up to see how the height worked out. But I've drilled a guide hole at every pillar on the map and I have a dowel cut to length.

I'd love to know how you cut the rounded edges of the two platforms the Storm giant archers stand on.

Almost all the foam was cut with a Proxxon hot wire cutter, including those platforms.

TomParker wrote:

I'm embarking on an attempt to make a physical model of this room, even though the 10' scale makes it huge. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Please do- I'd also like to make a physical model for my players.

It became apparent we weren’t going to get to the final battle last year, so I put the model on hold. We’re now getting ready to play. Here’s the progress—all foam is now cut and there’s just a lot of sanding, coating, fine tuning and more sanding to do.

I have to agree here. I've always loved the paladin. It's one of my favorite classes in Pathfinder. But this version is completely uninspiring.

I love this hill giant. This is so much better than the hill giant that looks like it walked off the set of Deliverance.

Thanks! I do have one of the Sterilite bins. I also have one of these IKEA things, but it's not going to scale very well as my collection grows. It's already hard to get to things in the back of the drawers.

Most of the old group have found/re-created their original characters from Rise or Shattered for one more grand adventure adventure before the coming of 2e.

Just need to finish War for the Crown and then we're going to attempt a Thassilon mega-AP once we figure out how we're going to work out long term character progression and returning characters.

Make sure they save some characters to be the Sihedron heroes! I love that they've connected these to the previous adventures and am really looking forward to seeing how the Sihedron heroes fit in.

With a growing collection of Pathfinder Battles cases, the occasional D&D minis purchase, tons of Reaper Kickstarters, and a handful of things I've painted myself, I'm wondering where all of you put these things. I'm currently putting most of the Wizkids stuff in a set of shallow drawers alphabetically, but it's getting crowded. I'd love to see any creative solutions you might have come up with.

What kind of news?

If one of the Starfinder miniatures I ordered arrived with a piece broken, should I contact Ninja Division about that or would that be handled by Paizo?

Did you pay cash or debit card, perhaps? This is sometimes standard practice when not using a credit card.

The line is always well-staffed and moves quickly Friday morning. There has not been a problem getting through in time. (The coffee line, not so much.)

You should receive tickets for everything on your schedule.

TomParker wrote:

There was actually a fantastic document that described every resident and their relationships and history in detail.

Maybe you mean this document?

That's the one.

Thanks!

Maybe I've overlooked it, but I can't find a PFS or SFS special on the schedule. Are there any this year?

For lottery events, if there are more than 4 that I am interested in, is it OK to double-up on rankings? For example, for Saturday if I have one 4, two 3s, two 2s, and a 1, is that OK? Or will that just confuse the system?

Your rankings simply tell Paizo what you'd like to play. Choose as many as you like, but what has worked for me is to have a single 4, one 3, one to three 2s, and 1s for the remaining games that I'd be willing to play.

Just remember that any time you have a rank with more than one thing, if multiple slots are available Paizo will have to assign one at random. I recommend using the higher ranks judiciously. It doesn't hurt your chances of getting a game (they'll just move on to your 3s if your 4 isn't available) and it more clearly communicates your preferences.

Are there no lottery games on Monday? I'm not seeing anything there in the lottery category.

Thanks! I didn't spot that one space in there.

Are there supposed to be lottery games on Monday?

Filtering for lottery, I'm only seeing 28 on Friday, and 29 on Saturday and 29 on Sunday.

I'm seeing the same thing. That's a bummer.

There was actually a fantastic document that described every resident and their relationships and history in detail. I think it was in this thread somewhere but I can't find it right now. It was exceptional work from someone.

(BTW, neither of your links works for me.)

I exclusively use my iPad and haven’t had a problem. Multiple games in a row can test the battery. Space is the primary concern; if you’re not encroaching on the space of others, a laptop shouldn’t be an issue. But as others have said, you can’t count on having access to power or wifi. I think Starfinder players using HeroLab Online may have problems.

So Just to confirm, the sign ups drop usually a month before hand (So Around end of April 2018 in this case?)

It's usually early May. I believe event selections opened on May 4 last year. We'll have 5 to 7 days to make selections, they'll run the lottery, and we usually see the results a couple days after the selection period ends.

The lottery signups always show up a little later than you'd expect. It will probably be another week or more. I think they've started in early May in the past.

My girlfriend and I tried the buddy system the first year and ended up with almost no games. It really seems intended for people who have a need to play together, like minor children, rather than just friends/spouses trying to get into the same games.

We now have much better luck doing the lottery independently and then trying to trade into games together once trading opens.

Any thoughts on a successful Con? I was thinking about trying to schedule a morning session and an early evening session each day, but fear exhaustion.

There is also a board for posting tickets you aren't going to use. I've used it in the past when I overestimated how much I could fit in. If you do end up feeling exhausted, you can always give up your ticket.

Two games every day might be exhausting. Last year, for games I scheduled 1/2+banquet/2/1. The year before, 1/1+banquet/2/1 but filled in a lot of panels.

You're reading something into my statement that isn't there.

Most people who played AD&D played it with the basic bare rules rather than everything from the DMG, or even the PHB.

Citation needed. Certainly not my experience with any group I ever played with at the time. Unless you have some data, you're begging the question.

Thanks! If anyone cares how I mapped out the elevations, here's how I'm approaching it. I decided not to show the entire 100' to the lava at scale, so I started the entrance platform at 2" height.

Eye of Avarice levels

We had a lengthy conversation in the community content thread about whether that map was 5' squares or 10' squares. I ultimately went with 10', which is why it is so huge, because it's the only scale where the elevation changes make sense and where the giants fit on the platforms where they are stationed.

I'm really looking forward to the final scene being pretty epic, and I think being able to actually see the different heights is going to help. (It's also made clear to me that Karzoug doesn't have line-of-sight when the PCs teleport in, assuming he is on his throne; the elevation and the Runewell block it.)

I was planning on getting some of those interior wall insulation boards, the 4'x8' pink foam things, and cutting them up to stack up the proper shapes, but I haven't started anything yet, so I'm open to ideas.

That's what I'm doing. I've purchased a couple foam cutters, including a Proxxon.

I haven't made much progress lately, but you can see how things have gone so far here. I have a few initial foam areas blocked out with some temp prints of the floor taped to them. The pillars have been easier than I expected using a Forstner bit and just inserting them into the hole. They won't all be perfectly vertical but I'm okay with that. There are just so many of them, and it's a pain to paint them all.

I had a professional printer do that full size map, which made things a lot easier. I had one copy with the floating platforms photoshopped out, to serve as the base level. And I have a second copy that is pretty much as shown in the AP, which I may cut up and use as the surface of the model. (But the map turned out so nice; I'm reluctant to cut it up.)

There is so much foam left to cut. And glue into stacks. And sand. And paint.

"Cheating is something that happens at most of our tables"

I vehemently disagree with the whole basis for that article.

My "hack"? Don't play with cheats.

I agree. Cheating is not something my group is interested in doing.

The old Micronauts Marvel comic series was favorite, long after I was 10.

I doubt any film would draw much from it, unfortunately.

Same here. I am positive I have the entire first run of The Micronauts in a long box somewhere.

I'd love to see Marvel and Hasbro make up and pull this into the MCU. It bugs me every time they talk about the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man. Just say it! Say Microverse! Say it!

I want some Arcturus Rann and Baron Karza.

The BUMBLEBEE movie this year looks like it will be the end of the Bayverse.

I think that was the idea with The Last Knight. It was planned to be Bay's last time at the helm. That's gotta be a good thing.

The other things you mention seem like projects I'd like to see given a shot. I thought the first GI Joe was brainless fun, but the second was a mess. A GI Joe reboot and a Micronauts film would certainly satisfy the 10 year old living inside me.