Ukos's page

Hi,

Sorry to have to do this, but please can you cancel all of my subscriptions. If possible, before the March shipment, although I realise I'm cutting this rather fine.

Many thanks,

U

Wow! Thanks, Erik; Distant Worlds looked interesting enough that I'd have picked it up eventually anyway, so your "token of appreciation" is very appreciated :)

U

Hi Customers Service,

I opened the above order this morning and found that its got a copy of Distant Worlds, instead of AP 54 in it. Can I return Distant Worlds and get the AP sent out?

Best wishes,

U

When is the "Smurfs of Golarion" book coming out.

It already has: Smurfs of Golarion.

U

Hi there,

I've just received my "about to ship notice" and it reminded me that I meant to cancel my Pathfinder Campaign Setting subscription this month. Can I have just that subscription cancelled please? If possible, I'd also like City of Strangers and the Kingmaker Poster Map Folio removed from the above order, as I meant to do this before it went through.

Many thanks,

Ukos

I believe you have miss understood what I have said. I meant they have a limited number of points to spend on re-rolls and the like but that they keep the inital fame bonus for the popularity check at the end.

You're right; I don't understand. How is that different from what's written in the adventure?

U

Im not James but I found an easy solution is to say they get to keep the inital fame total for the final check but they can only use fame points up to the amount they had at the start of the adventure. That way fame points are a limited resource (how limited depends on how well your group did in gaining them to begin with) but using them is not going to completly do your players over at the end.

Check p. 9; fame checks are always made using the party's initial fame score.

U

I'm curious what the Map Folio detractors thought of the City Map Folio.

Elucidate me, please.

Hi Erik,

I used to buy the Chronicles line one at a time from my FLGS. I decided to subscribe to get the convenience of it delivered to my door and the free pdf. At the time I had completely forgotten about the maps. I kind of shrugged, figured two products a year that I wouldn't use was OK if it meant I got all the others that I DID want. When I heard about the City Map Folio I groaned out loud; a third product that I didn't want. I meant to suspend the subscription to avoid it, but completely forgot (again).

The maps are very pretty. I usually open them and leaf through once...And that's it. With the CIty Map Folio I only opened one of the posters right out and couldn't really be bothered with the others. They were all there, and that's kind of what mattered. They now sit in amongst my other Chronicles/AP books and I don't think I'll ever use them. I'd really appreciate being able to opt out of all map products. I loved the CIties of Golarion book, and I bet I'll love the Lost Cities of Golarion too, I just hope I remember to suspend in time to avoid a map folio for it (and I'm sure that doing things like this isn't why you've provided the helpful suspend option.).

Best wishes,

U

For example, you could paint or write on them "stunned" "shaken" "nauseated" etc. and then put them onto, under, or next to your minis to indicate special conditions. Likewise you could similarly use them as terrain or spell markers. If you want to get fancy, fill in the slot with some blutak or whathaveyou, cover with sand/ballast/etc. Make slimy looking ones for swamp terrain, glue rocks onto them for Rubble, glue flock and lichen onto them for Undergrowth, etc. Then you have a nice way to mark up your battle grid.

I also paint empty bases of all sizes and shapes and use them as generic baddies when I don't have a figure for them.

Also, if aesthetics is your game, I second/third the recommendation to use the Privateer Press round bases.

That's such an awesome idea! I wish I'd thought of it, thanks for the suggestion.

Ukos

Yes, yes, yes!

This cover says "Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting" as much as any in our line to date. There's so much there that is uniquely "Pathfinder": the colonial style of Andoran, the diabolical Chelaxian slaver on the high seas, and best of all: HALFLING SLAVES.

Pitch perfect!

Its a thing of beauty Erik, I love it too!

Ukos

I might be the one person on the planet that would buy a copy of the Mephitnomicon. :D

There's at least two of us...

You might think Queen Liz' title is long but you don't want to know how terriby wrong it would all go if she ended her relationship with Merioneth!

I've just looked them up; they've got a pretty cool coat of arms! I'm sure that all of creation would implode, or Prince Phil's resulting comments would make us wish that it would...

U

The precise form of address and title of any head of state, whether Queen, President, Crown Prince, etc, gets pretty complicated. I think it depends on history, tradition, and culture as much as a simple right/wrong way. I'm sure I read ages ago that for a particular principality the correct form of address of the Crown Prince/Princess was His/Her Majesty, even though that usually gets used for Kings/Queens. That being, said I don't really know what really makes a head of state a King or Queen instead of a Prince/Princess. Anybody care to enlighten me?

I've just had a quick look on wikipedia and found these two pages, which I thought might interest some people.

Style (manner of address)
Forms of Address in the UK

I knew we got pretty convoluted in the UK, but I was shocked at how long the full title of the current Queen really was. I knicked this from another wikipedia article (Titles of Elizabeth II), its pretty long so I've spoilered it...

I think my personal favourite title is one I heard recently at a meeting. The proper form of address for the Crown Prince/Princess of Monaco; His/Her Serene Highness. Apparently, its a mistranslation from German, although I think its still pretty nice.

Hmm, anyway, I think that was my long-winded way of saying that I agree with Paul; the head of state of Cheliax can call herself whatever she damn well pleases and who's going to stop her!

Ukos

Thanks for confirming Alison, its much appreciated.

U

Hi guys,

The above order, which is just waiting for Pathfinder #24 (yippee!), is currently showing replacement copies of Pathfinder #22, The Great Beyond, and Taldor: Echoes of Glory. They're cancelled on my Order History, but not on the individual order page, which I thought seemed odd. I just wanted to make sure that those copies don't get shipped, since the originals did arrive.

Best wishes,

Ukos

Hi guys,

The above order, which is just waiting for Pathfinder #24 (yippee!), is currently showing replacement copies of Pathfinder #22, The Great Beyond, and Taldor: Echoes of Glory. They're cancelled on my Order History, but not on the individual order page, which I thought seemed odd. I just wanted to make sure that those copies don't get shipped, since the originals did arrive.

Best wishes,

Ukos

Mine turned up last night too! So I won't need the replacement either Cos. Like Paz, PF #23 arrived the same day. There was a big green stamp on the delayed package saying that it had cleared central customs (I think). I've never seen that before, I wonder if it had something to do with the delay?

U

Thanks cos; I really appreciate that. In fact, I think I might have to get excited about how many different things are going to be in my July shipment right now! Its gonna be awesome, I love getting packages.

U

My last subscription shipment is also yet to arrive, but not so late that its missing. This is the first time its ever taken this long. The previous two subscription shipments were REALLY fast. As in one was despatched a fortnight after the other and then the two arrived within a week. In fact, I think the order with the longer delivery time had taken somewhat less than three weeks, probably closer to 14 days.

I'm not too worried about any delays; I think its just a very temporary aberration that is completely out of the control of Paizo. In fact, I'm inclined to put it down to our own sometimes dodgy postal system! I'm also confident that Paizo will deal with any missing orders to the best of their ability. Also, I ordered the PFRPG poster, and that actually took less than the minimum of 9 days...It'll probably take longer for me to get it hanging on the wall!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us that they turn up this weekend (for some reason delivery's appear to be most common on a Thursday-Saturday. I once had one arrive on a Wednesday. Is anyone else anally retentive enough to have noticed that?)

Best wishes,

Ukos

PS: Forgot to say at the top, but my PF #22 was also shipped on the 11th of May. Something tells me that all off our shipments are sitting on a ship/in a warehouse/in the back of a van together! U.

Dragon #341 had an article on low cost golems that might interest you. Google tells me that the list included: fungus golem (CR 4), junk golem (CR 5), paper golem (CR 1), tin golem (CR 3), wax golem (CR 2), wood golem (CR 3). I think my favourite was the paper golem.

Apparently, there's also some construct familiars (copper asp (CR ½), crystal cat (CR 1), erudite owl (CR 2), glass dragonfly (CR 1), mercurial spider (CR 1), razor hawk (CR ½), salvage rat (CR 1)). I don't really remember them though.

I'd forgotten how good that issue was, must dig it out later on.

Best wishes,

Ukos

PS: Just re-read your first post. Sorry, forgot you wanted Golarion specific golems. Maybe the Dragon ones will give you some inspiration.

I've just received notice that my next subscription shipment will be sent soon and it made me realise how long I've been waiting on the above order. According to my order history it shipped on the 11th of May. The shipping time is 9-36 business days, so am I right in thinking it won't go to AWOL status until next week?

Best wishes,

Ukos

I've just received notice that my next subscription shipment will be sent soon and it made me realise how long I've been waiting on the above order. According to my order history it shipped on the 11th of May. The shipping time is 9-36 business days, so am I right in thinking it won't go to AWOL status until next week?

Best wishes,

Ukos

Here's the latest

a big long list

Hm, Only 11% reporting in. This is unacceptable. Show your pride in your purchase. Lets here from you!

I hear and obey; number 181 present and correct.

U

Hey cos (or Alison)

I guess my message got buried under the torrent in General Discussion. Just wanted to let you know that I tried ironing my books. iIt worked a treat on Clash of the Kingslayers, so I don't need a replacement for that one. I think the extra bulk of PF #18 meant that it didn't work so well there. The whole volume is slightly warped and I just can't flatten out the covers or most of the pages, so I'd really appreciate the replacement for that one.

Cheers,

Ukos

Hey cos,

I gave it a try over the weekend on both books and it worked a treat on Clash of the Kingslayers, so I don't need a replacement for that one. I think PF #18 took the brunt of the damage, maybe the higher page count trapped more water? Anyway, I just can't get the covers to unwarp and the whole volume is quite badly curved and rippled, so I'd really appreciate the replacement for that one.

Many thanks,

U

Once the book is thoroughy dry, use an iron at low heat but put parchment paper (you can get it by the aluminum foil at the grocery store) between the iron and the page. This should preotect your pages, while allowing you to flatten them.

Excellent advice! I figured I'd probably need something between the pages, but wasn't sure what to use. Thanks very much.

And cheers to cos also. That's really generous, considering Paizo can't help the weather. I'll give it a try over the weekend and let you know.

U

We've had some pretty foul weather in the UK the last couple of weeks (more snow than we know how to handle followed by pretty heavy rain in some parts). Unfortunately, when my PF #18 and Clash of the Kingslayers arrived last Thursday they'd got pretty soggy as a result. Ironically, the envelope had then dried out trapping some of the moisture inside, but had otherwise done its usual good job of protecting both books from the dings and folds of international travel.

I've managed to dry both the AP issue and module out and, thankfully, none of the pages have stuck together, so they're both still readable...They're just all ripply. At the moment they're living under a huge big pile of other D&D books, to try and squish out the ripples. Has anyone else had any luck at flattening them out? Or got any suggestions as to how to do it. I was considering ironing them, but don't want to risk making them unreadable.

Cheers,

Ukos

UK Customs are supposed to add charges whenever anything exceeds £18 ($27), but don't seem to bother until it gets to $100 - after that they always seem to add it for me. Between the VAT and the handling charges it adds a significant amount to the cost of a shipment (about £17), so I try to keep orders under $100 - but then it becomes a trade-off with shipping costs. So, it's good to know in advance if the next subscriber shipment is going to exceed $100 so I can budget for it.

An extremely useful thing to remember is that there is neither customs duty nor VAT payable on books in the UK. When I found that out, I stopped worrying about the occasional larger shipment.

U

Ukos, Gray Eminence, and Xenootch

I have set replacements to go out with your next subscription shipment!

However, the spine of the book is predisposed to separation at those points (and some others as well) because those are where two signatures meet (grouping of pages). Any soft cover book will separate between the signatures if the spine is folded far enough. While we will replace them, it is a normal occurrence and we don't typically send replacements for this kind of thing.

Alison

Thank you very much Alison, that's much appreciated.

Incidentally, I had wondered if it was this initially, but dismissed it as a possibility because I thought the signatures were multiples of 16. Is it just the case of pages being near those numbers, or am I completely mistaken?

Cheers,

U

I noticed that my copy of PF #14 was splitting in exactly the same place. At first I thought it was just a natural part of the binding, but then realised that the spine had been damaged in transit. The spine on my copy of PF #15 is twisted in the same place, although its between pages 82 & 83 that the binding seems to be going wonky.

I was quite surprised, as normally those cardboard envelopes give my shipments truly excellent protection! Anyway, I was just wondering if it was likely the damage in transit that caused this, or just n unfortunate printing problem.

Cheers,

U

Not in any particular order:

Time Travel

a post-apocalyptic AP, where the previous PC's screwed up, and the whole world is a wasteland/desert/covered in zombies. now go out and survive and try to fix this. combine with the time travel one to get really crazy.

-t

How about combining these two ideas?

The first couple of adventures could be set in a post-apocalyptic Golarion with everything gone to hell. Then the PCs discover that there's a way to undo the apocalypse if they travel back in time, kind of like a reverse Heroes. In the past, Golarion is as we know and love it now, but something nasty is brewing.

This would work well for player's that have previously gone through an AP, since they would know more about what Golarion SHOULD be like.

U

I just read today's blog and was slightly sad to see that you guys didn't make it to Reading's very own gaming store; Eclectic Games! They stock all sorts of Paizo stuff too. The owners (whose names I can never remember for more than 5 minutes...) are dead friendly and just moved to new premises with a massive gaming room out the back.

Shame you missed out on Orc's Nest. I love their miniature racks, but my bank balance doesn't :)

U

I don't have all of the modules myself, just a few that I've picked up from the local store and the last three on subscription. Of those I'd probably recommend Flight of the Red Raven (W3), Tower of the Last Baron (LB1), and Gallery of Evil (U1).

Flight of the Red Raven is an interesting low-level chase scenario, with all sorts of opportunities for the PCs to get confused over exactly who the bad guys are. There's a nice mix of potential role-playing negotiation and deal brokering mixed with simple monster bashing.

Tower of the Last Baron is an infiltration adventure, where the PCs need to get into the bad guys fortress after making contact with some sympathisers in the surrounding town. I'm hoping to run this as the middle section of a Last Baron min-campaign. So far, I'm planning on upping the intrigue by trying to come up with a "secret mission" for each of the PCs. With luck I'll be able to get a little bit of extra espionage from each one...

I like Gallery of Evil simply because the idea of a jealous artist killing his rivals with magic paintings really tickled my fancy! There are some really neat ideas in this one, although I think that it would work much better as part of an on-going story where the PCs already know the people being threatened.

Hope that helps,

U

I was having the same problem using Preview on my mac also. Works fine on an up-to-date Adobe reader on the same computer though. In pPreview, the problem seems to be with background graphics appearing over the top of text. So on the contents page the "watermark" was on the top of the contents, rather than beneath.

Cheers,

Ukos

PS: The new look is very cool by the way! U

Ukos wrote:

]Am I actually going to receive a companion with this order?

I've made sure you will!

Cheers Vic!

We've shown that on the order confirmation page for ages. We have no insight into when, why, and how items get flagged for customs duties, but if your subs have been getting through without duties so far, I'd be pretty surprised if this shipment got hit.

Wierd, I've probably ignored it when I've seen it on order confirmation. It's the first time that it has turned up on the order in Order History though.

U

I've just received the e-mail about this pending order, which is obviously a great thing to receive first thing on a monday morning. There's just a couple of things that have got me worried.

Firstly; my Pathfinder Companion: Second Darkness is showing up as "Cancelled in May 2008", and there's no charge for it. Now, because I'm an idiot, it was indeed cancelled back then. Then I did some maths and got Cosmo to start the subscription up again. Am I actually going to receive a companion with this order?

Secondly, there's the following note on the order, which I've never seen before:

"Note: Any applicable customs charges for international orders are the responsibility of the recipient."

Is this a new note being added to all orders, or am I actually likely to have to pay customs duty due to the order containing two Pathfinders and (maybe) a companion? I realise that you might not be able to actually help me on this, so I am trying to find out the rules via HM Revenues and Customs, just not getting very far!

Cheers,

Ukos

PS: As a customer that has recently had concerns regarding the cost of shipping and handling I'd like to say thanks for giving us internationals a further discount on orders over $25. I think that's absolutely stunning! U

Saurstalk wrote:

Anyhow, I'm coming across two camps regarding the Descent: (1) Loved it v. (2) Thought it was lame. I'm in no. 1.

Descent, that's the movie with the group of British chicks that go cave climbing and find themselves being hunted by morlock-like humans right? I liked that movie, I just wish they told us what those creatures were doing down there.

I think so. There's an extremely claustrophobic moment in that movie that scarred me more than a horror movie has ever managed to do before or since. I've never felt so nauseous...Except for the needle-pit in one of the Saws...

Spoiler for the film follows.

U

I'm not really against greater diversity, but it should be pointed out that this diversity drive is being driven by a bunch of white males. Personally, I don't feel too much guilt about my ethnicity, sexuality and so on. I'm in favour of diversity to the extent that it reflects real life (we are not all white, straight males in their thirties, even if most players are) but I hope it doesn't start getting silly (lesbian, one-eyed, one-legged iconics living in a menage a trois) and turn into tokenism.

This whole thread, but particularly Aubrey's comment, brought to mind a news story I read last week. Samir Shah, a non-executive director of the BBC, accused the BBC of over-representing minorities in its programming, leading to tokenism in their representation. I can't find the full story that I read at the time, but here's a link to a short version of it.

I found the story interesting at the time, and thought it might be interesting enough to share.

U

Got mine from Eclectic Games in Reading in the UK (Good store and deserve a plug because they stock Pathfinder!) made sure I told them how much postage they'd saved me! ;-) Great freebies this year too. Mind you, it works, cost me two boxes of Star Wars figures for my son!

Anyway, great adventure, thanks to all.

I wish I could have made it, but dammit I had to get a bus to Ascot at 11 and my dearly beloved wouldn't have understood a last second dash across town...

Awesome!

Cheers, cos

So folks have been saying about how they're getting their e-mails about the imminent shipping of Pathfinder #10 and a I get all excited about more stuff to read just as I'm getting to the end of Classic Monsters Revisited (no, I'm not THAT slow, I only picked it up at the local store recently :) )

Unfortunately, My Subscriptions page says that Pathfinder #10 is being delayed by waiting for my next Pathfinder Module to arrive, which is being reported as Tower of the Last Baron. I was expecting Flight of the Red Raven to be my next module (having read elsewhere that some people's pages where getting confused over the two), and so didn't anticipate Pathfinder #10 getting delayed.

Can be sorted so that Flight of the Red Raven becomes my next module and I get Pathfinder #10 shipped with it?

Cheers,

Ukos

This is exactly what it means, and I have done so. :)

However, you will need to go to your My subscriptions page and set your combined shipping method again, because it was reset when the subscriptions were canceled. We do not retain this information, and it isn't a decision I want to make for you.

Thanks,
cos

Thanks Cosmo, all done. Next time I'll do the maths before canceling :)

U

Edit: I just realised how bad that sounds...What I mean, is that I'll engage brain before making important decisions :)

Ukos wrote:

I'm beginning to wonder if I might have jumped the gun...A bit of maths shows me that the exchange rate is still in my favour and I'd be getting a better deal that I had assumed...Hmmm

Cheers,

U

Just resubscribe :)

Funnily enough, that's exactly what I was thinking :)

Having considered it overnight, I think I want to resubscribe to both Pathfinder Modules and Companion. I've noticed that they still appear on "My Subscriptions", so does that mean a friendly neighbourhood customers services rep can set them going for me, or do I need to do it myself?

Cheers,

U

Thanks Vic, that's given me a really interesting insight into how you go about shipping things to my ungrateful hands! I remember reading somewhere that you guys where already subsidising that $5 rate, but to hear that you still are on the new rates makes me feel even more greedy :) To be honest, I'd assumed that the increased rate was still working like the old one, that it was a flat rate for a certain weight.

Having now had my Modules & Companion subscriptions canceled (thanks to whoever did that), I can see that the shipping for Pathfinder has dropped to $7.39. I'm more than happy to pay slightly more than cover price on that for the convenience of getting it delivered right to my door and also getting the pdf. Of course, that means that really I'm only paying $2 for getting the Modules & the Companion also shipped direct to my door with the pdfs...I'm beginning to wonder if I might have jumped the gun...A bit of maths shows me that the exchange rate is still in my favour and I'd be getting a better deal that I had assumed...Hmmm

Cheers,

U

Daigle wrote:

;)

I died a little inside when I saw James's quote. Not that I've read all of HIS books, mind you, so I guess we're even. ;)

Never mind, MIke, for what its worth I loved Complete Scoundrel (it was also the first time I convinced my dearly beloved that she wanted to buy me a D&D book for my birthday!). I haven't got to try out the Luck feats and skill tricks as much as I'd like, but one of my players is currently having fun saying "I reroll that" anytime a die comes up with a result he hates! The grey guard saw immediate use as a paladin/watch officer based on Boyd from Waking the Dead.

Any chance of letting on who wrote what bits? Or was it all collaborative?

U

The Red Mantis assassins on page 15 of Pathfinder 9 list (1) 2nd Level and (3) 1st Level spells, but the assassins are listed with an Intelligence of 8.

The class description from page 70 says, "To cast a
spell, the Red Mantis assassin must have an Intelligence score
of at least 10 + the spell’s level. Red Mantis assassin bonus
spells are based on Intelligence...."

Question: Is the class description or the stat block in error?

I would hazard a guess that their spellcasting is meant to be Charisma-based, rather than Intelligence. I just checked the pdf and their Cha of 14 is sufficient to grant them a bonus 1st and bonus 3rd level spell, which is consistent with the number of spells they have.

U

PS: Love the PrC, by the way. And the art, especially the way the assassins are holding their sabres with the blades down. At first I thought it was goofy, then I twigged that it made them look more like a mantis themselves! Awesome stuff. The whole class is much more fun than the DMG's assassin, although the shapechanging felt a little out-of-place at first.

I just noticed that the price for USPS package service shipping has increased by $3.

Unfortunately, that means that I'm going to have to ask for my Pathfinder modules and companion subscriptions to be cancelled (after just one module, alas). I know increased shipping costs aren't Paizo's fault, but I only started the subscriptions because my Pathfinder advantage discount was enough to offset the increased shipping cost. I'll still be getting the modules through my local game store here in the UK, though...And if the option to add things to my sidecart to ship with my next Pathfinder volume kicks in then I'm sure I'll start using that.

That raises another question; will I be able to return to the special $5 Pathfinder shipping now that I'm only going to have that subscription left on my account? If I'm stuck with the $9.36, then I'll need to cancel that subscription too, and start making more regular pilgrimages to the store...

Cheers,

Ukos

Ukos wrote:

Mostly, I think those two players will get a real kick out of hearing the entire final audience chanting "Hastur, Hastur..." in a whisper!

U

I'm curious to know how the whole thing turns out for you. Sounds creepy and exciting.

The first session went pretty well. Its been a while since I was on the DM's side of the screen, so it was nice to know that the skill hasn't atrophied away to nothing :) As I've seen elsewhere on the boards, the pseudo-natural villagers completely fooled everybody into thinking they were a lot more dangerous than they really are. Their ability to uneeringly hit in the first round is pretty scary, even though they aren't doing much damage. This was also the first time that most of us have played at 9th level, and I think that every player got to have a "my character's awesome!" moment. I'm having a lot of fun watching someone else play a soulknife, something I've longed to do myself for the last couple of years. I don't think the rogue player has quite got the hang of sneak attack yet, but that was the first time that she's ever played one and she's already sneak attacked more than our previous (long-term) rogue player ever did, i.e. once!

Unfortunately, I misread the two players who know about the mythos. They're both experienced roleplayers, so even though I knew they'd recognise the Yellow Sign in Hallowfield, I thought they'd keep their mouths shut...What was that? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its a pig flying past!

As soon as I showed them the picture of the Sign on my laptop: "Oh, its the King in Yellow", "Who's that?" someone asks, "Part of the Cthulu mythos, just not written by the main guy..." They decided to be quiet when I glared at them and voiced that stopping meta-gaming (their word, I'd have called it "spoiling the big reveal for everybody else at the table") was a good idea.

Ho hum, no DM's plan survives contact with the PCs. Hopefully by the time we play again, the other players will have forgotten this mention of the King in Yellow and I'll still be able to freak them out with the critters I've got lined up. At least I know never to rely upon those two to hold their own water ever again! The hound of Tindalos should be suitable revenge, once I add a couple of hit die...

U