Zoreck the Unclean's page

Hello, folks!

I'm cleaning out of much of my hardcopy RPG book collection.

I just posted six auctions on eBay for the following 6-volume Adventure Path series. All are for first edition...

Hell's Rebels (Pathfinder #97-102)
Hell's Vengeance (Pathfinder #103-108)
Strange Aeons (Pathfinder #109-114)
Ironfang Invasion (Pathfinder #115-120)
Ruins of Azlant (Pathfinder #121-126)
War for the Crown (Pathfinder #127-132)

My current eBay listings are all here.

If you win multiple auctions, I'm happy to consolidate orders to save shipping costs.

Thanks!

Hello, Paizo Customer Service team.

I was shocked and saddened to hear that Diego and Sara are no longer with Paizo. That's a huge hit to your team, and I can imagine that your team's morale also took a big hit.

I think it's time to request a refund for my PaizoCon 2020 badge and banquet ticket. I'm not playing Pathfinder or Starfinder at all any more, and I don't really see myself returning to PaizoCon even after the pandemic has subsided.

Thanks!

Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando
Ithaca, NY

The fine folks at Magpie Games launched a Kickstarter for Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game. This is an officially-licensed RPG based on Avarar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Kora.

At the time I post this, the KS is four days in and has raised nearly $3.5 million.

The game is "Powered by the Apocalypse," meaning that it's a narrative-focused/rules-light RPG that uses the same game engine and design framework as Apocalypse World by Vincent & Maguey Baker. Most of Magpie's other RPGs are also PbtA.

I've been a fan of Magpie Games for quite a while, and it's really exciting to see this KS be so successful. I expect them to knock this game out of the park.

I backed this KS, even though I'm not much of an Avatar fan myself... I'm hoping to use this game to get Avatar fans interested in PbtA and in indie RPGs in general!

Hi, folks.

I'm cleaning out my gaming shelf, and I decided that I don't really have a sentimental need to hang onto my PaizoCon convention schedule booklets. I have them from the two in-person PaizoCons I attended (2018 & 2019).

If anyone is interested in one or both, please send me a private message. I'll foot the bill to send them via USPS Media Mail.

Hi, folks.

I'm cleaning out my gaming shelf, and I decided that I don't really have a sentimental need to hang onto my PaizoCon convention schedule booklets. I have them from the two in-person PaizoCons I attended (2018 & 2019).

If anyone is interested in one or both, please send me a private message. I'll foot the bill to send them via USPS Media Mail.

Humble Bundle is offering an AMAZING bundle deal on the tabletop RPG 13th Age from Pelgrane Press.

13th Age is by far my favorite d20/OGL fantasy RPG. And it's hard to beat this deal.

Definitely check it out!

Humble Bundle for 13th Age

Hello, Paizo Customer Service.

I'm not particularly interested in the upcoming Lost Omens releases, and would like to cancel my subscription.

Thanks!

Hi, folks.

It's time to clean out my gaming shelf by selling off some books I don't think I'll use again.

I have the following D&D 3.5 books for sale on eBay:

D&D Player's Handbook 3.5
D&D Dungeon Master's Guide, 3.5
D&D Monster Manual, 3.5
D&D Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss, 3.5

I am also selling:
The d20 Modern Core Rulebook

They're all on my eBay store.

A bunch of people in a few different threads are talking about the OSR role-playing game Mörk Borg, a game written by Pelle Nilsson, published by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell, and distributed in the US by Free League Press.

The game is a rules-light RPG in the Old School Renaissance (OSR) tradition, but is not a D&D retro-clone. It is a class-and-level based system that uses a d20/roll-over-target pass/fail resolution mechanic. The entire rules of the game are summarized on a one-page document.

One note about the system is that all rolls are player-facing: The GM never rolls dice at all! (With the possible exception of rolling on random tables.)

The core rulebook is slim 96-page 8.5" x 6" hardcover, with a screaming yellow-and-black color scheme. It's a stunningly beautiful artifact: The PDF does NOT do it justice. It's as much an art book as a game manual. The aesthetic is Nordic death metal.

The book includes all the rules you need to play, plus a 15-page intro dungeon, "Rotblack Sludge, or The Accursed Den of the Cannibal Warlock".

And, yes, that title pretty much gets at the aesthetic.

I highly recommend checking out this gem of a game.

Critics also agree: This game won 2020 ENnie Awards for "Product of the Year" (Gold), "Best Writing" (Gold), "Best Layout & Design" (Gold), and "Best Game" (Silver).

(Oh, and "mörk borg" is Swedish for "dark fort".)

Hello, Paizo Customer Care Bears!

It looks like my subscription copy of The Mwangi Expanse is stuck "pending".

There also seems to be a weird Starfinder Core Rulebook replacement copy order in the mix which may be why it's stuck...

Back when the SF CRB was first released, there was a manufacturing issue with the binding of the first printing that caused the pages to fall out almost immediately. I asked for and received a replacement copy, but that replacement copy had the same issue. You folks said you'd replace that one too, but you were out of stock and it might be a while before a new shipment arrived from overseas.

In the meantime, I bought a library-grade hardcover binding repair kit and fixed both of my SF CRBs. (I donated one to my local high school's RPG club). I never did get that replacement-for-the-replacement, but I figured that it wasn't that big a deal, as I had a perfectly serviceable copy.

So... if somebody could un-stick this order, I'd appreciate it! (And, yes, I would accept that replacement copy of the SF CRB.)

Thanks!

It's been about a year and a half since the pandemic hit in earnest, and most TTRPGers switched to playing online exclusively.

Now that the pandemic appears to be on the wane (thank you vaccinations!!) many of us will be returning to in-person play.

What are you going to miss about online play?

Here are a few things I'll miss when we return to in-person play...

1) Online Character Keepers

Not sure how many of you are using these, but it's a technique that's evolved from several online TTRPG communities and was developed years before the pandemic. Character Keepers are a shared document (usually a Google Sheet) where all of the character stats are kept, viewable by all players and the GM. As a player, I've found it very valuable to my play-style to know what the other PCs' tricks and techniques are, so that I can more easily play off of them. And as a GM, seeing the capabilities of all of the PCs in one place makes it easier to know their status. I know that I'm going to find that not having a Character Keeper to refer to is going to be a big adjustment when I return to in-person play.

2) No Commute time

One very nice thing about playing online is that you don't have to go anywhere. Back when I was playing in-person, I regularly had to drive 20-45 minutes to get to the host's house. With online gaming, there's no commute, so I don't have to factor in travel-time. This means we can generally have an extra hour or so per-session for a normal-length game. It also makes it viable to schedule short play sessions of two hours or less.

3) No Post-game cleanup

When I host a game, there is invariably a fair amount of cleanup I need to do after my guests leave: Collecting the empty beverage cans; putting away the books, dice, minis and battle-mat; sweeping up the chip crumbs that got dropped under the table; washing the glassware; etc. There's none of that in an online game!

4) Secret messaging is a LOT easier

Rather than passing notes, it's so much easier to send secret messages between the GM and a player, or between players, via direct the direct chat function of whatever online tool you're using to play (Zoom, Discord, Roll20, etc).

The Gauntlet Online RPG Community is running another Open Community Gaming event in June.

Gauntlet Community Open Gaming Event

This online mini-con is free and open to anyone.

The Gauntlet is a well-established online community that supports table-top role-playing games of various sorts. We specialize in indie RPGs, story-games, Old School Renaissance (OSR) gaming, and Live-Action Online Games (LAOGs).

The schedule of events is not yet set. I am planning to GM or facilitate two or three games myself.

GCOG is a fantastic way to learn about The Gauntlet Community and to see for yourself how we play tabletop RPGs online. It's a very warm and welcoming community and we're always looking for new people to join.

Hope to see you there!

Legendary Games' sword-and-planet adventure path Legendary Planet is on sale at Bundle of Holding.

This deal includes PDFs BOTH the 5E and the Pathfinder 1e versions of the compiled adventure path:

Prologue: The Assimilation Strain
Chapter 1: To Worlds Unknown
Chapter 2: The Scavenged Codex
Chapter 3: Dead Vault Descent
Chapter 4: Confederates of the Shattered Zone
Chapter 5: The Depths of Desperation
Chapter 6: Mind Tyrants of the Merciless Moons
Chapter 7: To Kill a Star

The above collections, for BOTH 5E AND PF1 are just $15.

For an additional $6, you can add the bonus collection, which includes supplementary material for use in both this AP and for sword-and-planet adventures in general. Again, this collection includes BOTH 5E and PF1 versions of...

Stargates
Treasury of the Machine
Legendary World: Calcarata
Legendary World: Carsis
Legendary World: Melefoni
Legendary World: Polaris 7
Legendary World: Terminus
Legendary World: Volretz

Hi!

I have a question about whether the Paizo Community Use policy allows us to publish conversions of Pathfinder adventures into non-OGL RPG game systems.

In my specific case, I've converted the adventure The Godsmouth Heresy for the RPG Trophy Gold by Jesse Ross, which itself is published by the small indie RPG imprint Gauntlet Publishing. Trophy Gold is published under a Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BA) license, and does not use the OGL.

My question is whether the Paizo Community Use Policy would allow me to publish my conversion of The Godsmouth Heresy, keeping intact the Pathfinder setting elements, such as the Church of Pharasma, Thassilon, the Sihedron Rune, Kaer Maga, the Godsmouth Ossuary, etc; and also the names of monsters such as sinspawn, skull spiders, and goblin snakes.

Trophy Gold does not share any game mechanical elements with Pathfinder or D&D. It also uses a very different play structure, meaning that this is an abstract conversion using the original module's themes and major set-pieces, and is not a room-by-room conversion. TG doesn't use game maps (tactical or otherwise), so I have no need to use the dungeon cartography.

Thanks in advance for letting me know whether or not the Pathfinder Community Use Policy allows this sort of usage.

Magpie Games 10th Anniversary Celebration!

Magpie Games is running an online mini convention this weekend to celebrate their 10th anniversary!

There will be games, seminars, a Q&A with the design team, giveaways, and more!

I will be running a session of Dungeon World set in Magpie's apocalyptic fantasy setting The Last Days of Angelkite. As of now, I still have spots for two more players!

Magpie Games is a small independent publisher of table-top games. Their role-playing games line includes the teenage superhero game Masks: A New Generation, the supernatural tragic horror game Bluebeard's Bride, the modern-day urban fantasy game Urban Shadows, the Latin telenovela game Pasion de las Pasiones, the kid-friendly fantasy RPG Epyllion in which the PCs are young dragons coming of age, and many others. They also publish the family-friendly strategic card game Wizard Kittens. Most of their role-playing games use the "Powered by the Apocalypse" framework.

Magpie Games has also recently announced that they have a signed a licensing agreement to produce an RPG set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I hope to see some Paizoians check out another corner of the RPG world!

I am running an 8-session online series of the OSR/story-game hybrid RPG Trophy Gold in April/May, and I am looking for one or two more players.

In Trophy Gold, player characters are desperate treasure-hunters seeking riches hidden away in forgotten and dangerous places.

The game will run Thursday nights 8-11 PM EDT (UTC-4), starting on 4/8/2021. I am running the game through The Gauntlet Online Gaming Community. For tech, we'll use Zoom for audio/video chat, a Google Sheet for character information, and a shared online dice roller for when dice hit the table.

This game is free and open: You do not need to be a paid subscriber to The Gauntlet to play. You will need to register your e-mail address to sign up.

For more information about this game, with links to sign up for each session, please see the game announcement at The Gauntlet Forums.

I intend to run two or three incursions (i.e. scenarios) over the course of this series, with a "Hearthfire" downtime round after each one. One of the scenarios I intend to run is a conversion of the Pathfinder adventure The Godsmouth Heresy.

Thanks for considering!

I've been noodling on converting adventures written for one system and running them in a different system that may be more suited for the nature of the adventure.

Pathfinder (both editions) is at its heart a game about fighting monsters and taking their stuff. Two-thirds of the rules are about fighting and combat: The game is pretty much a combat system with other role-playing aspects kind of bolted onto the side. It does what it does very well. However, I find that Pathfinder is not a particularly great system to run adventures about things other than fighting and looting.

Some examples of things that Pathfinder doesn't do all that well: Romance; Courtly intrigue; Political machinations; Investigations; Naval engagements; Heists; Running a business; Family drama; Large-scale warfare; Environmental threats.

When Pathfinder adventure designers want to tackle major themes that aren't all about the fighting, they have but three choices: Lean very heavily on existing rules that are not particularly robust, use free-form role-play without formal rules underpinning them ("rulings not rules"), or create new subsystems to bolt onto the core combat rules. And even then, most adventures ostensibly not focused on combat will have a handful (or more) of superfluous combat encounters anyway, because that's what the game is really about.

Pathfinder adventure paths have top-grade writing: They are some of the best adventure series out there, for any TTRPG. Unfortunately, many of them aren't well-served by the Pathfinder ruleset. Here's my take on other TTRPG systems that would do a much better job handling the themes and subject matter of these Adventure Paths...

Curse of the Crimson Throne: Electric Bastionland
Electric Bastionland is a TTRPG based on the rules-light OSR "Into The Odd" engine. In it, PCs are desperate adventurers whose original careers didn't pan out, living in a fantasy pseudo-Victorian metropolis ruled by a mad queen. The lightweight rules are focused on adventuring in an urban setting.

Council of Thieves: Blades in the Dark
In Blades in the Dark, the PCs are members of an urban criminal gang who pull off heists in a fantasy city. It seems tailor-made for this adventure path.

Carrion Crown: Trail of Cthulhu
"Carrion Crown" is an investigation-heavy game dealing in classic supernatural entities like ghosts and vampires, and an evil cult pulling the strings and trying to bring about the end of the world. Trail of Cthulhu uses the GUMSHOE RPG engine that's all about finding clues, following leads, and fighting against the supernatural.

Skull and Shackles: Rapscallion
Rapscallion is a rules-light RPG about pirates making their fortunes on the high seas of a magical world. It's a perfect fit for this adventure path.

Mummy's Mask: Trophy Gold
Trophy Gold is a rules-light RPG about desperate treasure-hunters seeking fortunes in dangerous forgotten corners of the world. It's a perfect match for an adventure series about raiding lost tombs and dealing with the ancient strangeness therein.

Iron Gods: Apocalypse World
Apocalypse World is the original game that started the "Powered by the Apocalypse" RPG design movement. The themes of the game really match the weird "Thundarr the Barbarian" post-apocalypse themes of this adventure series in particular and of Numeria itself, with its mix of magic and alien high technology.

Hell's Rebels: Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG
It's what is says on the box: Comrades is an RPG about a group of underground revolutionaries seeking to topple an oppressive government in the name of the people. The core rules of the game include how to spy on the Regime, rally the population to your cause, create and distribute anti-government propaganda, how to stage effective protest, and how to fight back against riot police. The game delivers exactly what the adventure promises.

Strange Aeons: Cthulhu Dark
A rules-light cosmic horror RPG, Cthulhu Dark delivers an intense horror experience about the border between the seen and unseen realms. It's a game about the journey from the known to the unknown and the ramifications of learning secrets mankind was not meant to know.

War for the Crown: Blue Rose 2nd ed.
Blue Rose is a game of "romantic fantasy," where passions run high and words can cut as deep as any blade. It uses the Adventure Game Engine (AGE), which includes robust mechanics for persuasion and political intrigue. While fighting with swords is an option, using persuasion is often more effective in this game. This system meshes so well with the themes of the adventure that even the developer of "War for the Crown" believes that Blue Rose would have been a much better system for it.

Agents of Edgewatch: Blades in the Dark
In Blades, the city constabulary is listed as just another of the city's gangs... and the mechanics work just as well for running a sting as they do for running a heist.

Has anyone here ever tried doing something like this?

Magpie Games announced today that they have a licensing agreement in place with Viacom to produce an RPG based on the setting of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The game will use the "Powered by the Apocalpyse" RPG engine.

Magpie Games press release

Hi, folks.

The Gauntlet online gaming community is running another Community Open Gaming event at the end of February!

Come play TTRPGs with some of the chillest gamers you'll ever come across. This convention focuses on independent RPGs, story-games, and OSR.

And it's FREE!

I'll be running three games, one of which is a repeat of an event I ran at PaizoCon 2019.

I hope to see you there!

As much as it pains me to say so, after having subscribed for 9 years, I think it's time to cancel my Adventure Path subscription.

My taste in RPGs has shifted to narrative story-games that don't focus on combat.

I just received confirmation that "Agents of Edgewatch" #6 has shipped, and I would like that to be my final issue.

Thanks!

I just saw mention of a very interesting development: Pinnacle Entertainment announced that they will be launching a Kickstarter in January for an official conversion of the "Rise of the Runelords" adventure path to the Savage Worlds RPG.

Pinnicle Entertainment: Pathfinder for Savage Worlds

I think this is pretty cool! To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Savage Worlds as an RPG, but I think it's really interesting to see Paizo licensing its IP to other companies for use in other game systems.

I, for one, would like to see a conversion of the "War for the Crown" AP for Green Ronin's Blue Rose RPG. With its focus on interpersonal relationships and political intrigue, I think Blue Rose as a game system would be a much better fit for the core storyline than Pathfinder.

Bundle of Holding is running a pair of PDF deals on the Scandinavian dark fantasy RPG Symbaroum right now. This includes a ton of setting material about a forbidding enchanted forest and its malevolent denizens, and the Empire's continuing attempts to conquer and exploit it.

The setting and adventure material look like it would be fairly easy to convert to another RPG system of choice. The included traditional RPG ruleset is a fairly straightforward d20 "roll under" system that uses the standard polyhedral dice set.

The game also serves as a metatextual commentary on imperialism and colonialism.

Indie Games On Demand is running an online mini-convention the weekend of August 28-30:

Games On Demand Online

Come play any of a variety of tabletop RPGs from independent designers and small press publishers.

I am running two games: Trophy Dark: The Forest of Blades, and Swords of the Serpentine.

Tickets are pay-what-you-want, with all proceeds going to The Bail Project and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

I hope to see some of you there!

Hello, Paizo Customer Service.

Please cancel my subscriptions to the Pathfinder Modules, Pathfinder Rulebook, and Lost Omens lines.

I will retain my subscription to the Pathfinder Adventure Path line for now.

Thank-you.

Hi, folks.

The Gauntlet online gaming community is running another Community Open Gaming event!

Come play independent RPGs with some of the chillest gamers you'll ever come across.

And it's FREE!

I'll be running four games, one of which is a repeat of an event I ran at PaizoCon 2019.

I hope to see you there!

Hi, folks. With the cancellation of so many cons, and with the whole social distancing thing, The Gauntlet online gaming community is running an open gaming weekend from April 16th through the 19th.

More information is here!

The Gauntlet is an online gaming community that focuses on indie RPGs, story-games, and OSR games. While we don't play a whole lot of Pathfinder or D&D, this is a fantastic RPG community with members who play hundreds of different RPGs. Our GMs have a great deal of experience running games over video chat. Safety is very important, and every game will have a set of emotional safety tools in play.

This gaming weekend is free and open to everyone.

I am still figuring out my calendar for that weekend, and I hope to be running something... perhaps the games I won't be running at this year's PaizoCon...

Please check it out if you're interested!

Hi, folks.

I hope you're all doing OK in light of the pandemic.

Back on 3/1/2020, I added a subscription to the Pathfinder Adventure line. (Order #8205825).

The subscription tag still isn't showing on my profile.

Also... I thought that with four subscriptions, I was supposed to start getting get free Society scenarios, but I was never given the choice of PFS or SFS. (I would choose PFS), and I don't know how to claim that.

Thanks for looking into this, and let me know if you need more info.

Sincerely,

Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando

Hi, folks.

I am weeding out some of my RPG books, and wanted to know if anyone here was interested before I put them up on eBay.

They are all in excellent condition, some shelf wear. All books have no writing or marks other than a bookplate inside the front cover with my name and purchase date written on it.

Pathfinder 1e hardcover rulebooks (Paizo)

Mythic Adventures
Ultimate Campaign
Adventurer's Guide
Ultimate Equipment
Inner Sea Races
Villain Codex
Strategy Guide

Campaign Setting softcover(1e)

Inner Sea Monster Codex
Construct Handbook
Misfit Monsters Redeemed
Inner Sea Bestiary
Rival Guide
Occult Bestiary

Pathfinder comics compilation hardcover

Pathfinder: Hollow Mountain

Pathfinder Cards:

Condition Cards
Harrow Deck (original)

Pathfinder 1e hardcovers: Third-party

Kobold Press: New Paths Compendium
Frog God Games: The Tome of Horrors Complete
Green Ronin: Advanced Bestiary

Other RPGs

Frog God Games: Swords & Wizardry Core Rulebook
Troll Lord Games: Castles & Crusades Players Handbook
Level 99 Games: Street Fighter: The Card Game

If you're interested in any of these, make me an offer. PMs are open.

Trophy: The RPG is on Kickstarter, and everyone should check it out!

Trophy is a rules-light game that straddles the divide between the Old School Renaissance (OSR) and modern indie/story-games.

It is actually two distinct but related games:

Trophy Dark is a one-shot dark fantasy/horror RPG about flawed and desperate treasure-hunters seeking fortune in the depths of an enchanted forest that does not want them there. The PCs face challenges from without and within, and the game typically ends with desperate actions that lead to doom.

Trophy Gold is an expansion of Dark, providing a more-traditional campaign-style RPG of classic dungeon-crawling. The mechanics emphasize trade-offs and hard decision-making. Combat is fast, suspenseful, and deadly, and the rewards are tantalizing.

The KS also includes a campaign book Trophy Loom. Loom presents a hinted-at, non-canonical setting that is generated by the GM and players from a large selection of world-building prompts and random tables. Much of the lore for Loom will be crowd-sourced: before, during, and after the KS proper.

The initial version of Trophy has been out since December 2018 through The Gauntlet's monthly magazine Codex. The rules originally appeared in Codex #28: Dark 2. You can download a free copy of the original rules for both Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold from the Kickstarter page.

The KS has already unlocked a large array of stretch goals. The final goal is in reach: "The Roots of Kahduhr", a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. This final goal will be a huge dungeon in spirit of The Temple of Elemental Evil or The Emerald Spire. The author list for "Roots of Kalduhr" is a who's who of the indie RPG scene.

I am incredibly excited for the Trophy RPG Kickstarter. I backed it at the "Treasure Hunter" level, which includes a three-volume hardcover set of rulebooks for Trophy Dark, Trophy Gold, and Trophy Loom, and also two sets of custom dice; a set of custom coin tokens; and a set of character creation cards... in addition to digital versions of all the books plus all the digital stretch goals.

I strongly encourage every RPGer to check it out... If nothing else, you can pick up the core rules for two RPGs for free!

Hi.

Follow-up to my post from a week ago about buying a PaizoCon badge & banguet ticket and also starting a subscription on the same order.

Due to weirdness with the site (and my own terrible memory), I accidentally ordered three PaizoCon badges and banquet tickets.

I only need one badge and banquet ticket. Would you please change that order from three badges/tickets to one badge/ticket.

Background:

I had forgotten I'd ordered the tickets on 1/8, and attempted to order them again on 1/16. When I didn't see them appear in my shopping cart, I tried to order them a third time.

That was when I looked over my order history, and found that the two subsequent ticket orders had been appended to my 1/8 order, and not into my shopping cart.

Thanks for clearing this up!

--Mike F.

Hello, Customer Service Team!

I just attempted to purchase a PaizoCon badge and banquet ticket.

They did not show up in my cart when I attempted to view my cart to check out.

I then attempted to add another random item ("Fall of Plaguestone") to my cart and then add the tickets again. My cart said there were now five items in my cart, but when I tried to view my cart, there was only the one book.

I clicked "remove all", my cart showed no items.

I then tried to purchase the badge and banquet ticket again. My cart then showed it had 7 items, but when I tried to view the cart, there were no items.

Would you please take a look at my shopping cart? I would like to purchase a PaizoCon 2020 badge and banquet ticket.

Thanks!

Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando

There has been a lot of talk recently in indie RPG/story-game circles about the mechanization of fantasy race-based stat adjustments. (E.g.All dwarves get +1 Con and Wis, and -1 Cha).

These impose a fantasy-racist stereotype on whole groups of people ("All Dwarves are wise and tough, but hard to get along with"), that's actually backed up by the rules.

And the more I think about it, the less goid I feel about it.

In my PF2e games, I am making the following change:

All Ancestries get the choice of two free boosts (like a human), or three free boosts and a flaw.

I'm just curious about what other role-playing games Pathfinder and Starfinder fans are also playing.

Right now, I'm running a Dungeon World campaign, set in the weird Heavy Metal-inspired setting The Ultraviolet Grasslands.

I am also playing in a Star Wars: The Role Playing Game campaign, that's using the first edition of West End Games d6 Star Wars system. (I sold all of my WEG Star Wars books years ago, and am using Fantasy Flight Games' recent reprint of the 1987 edition of the rules.

In the past year, I've played in a bunch of multi-session RPGs using the following systems...

Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition)
Dungeon World
Swords of the Serpentine
Fate (both Core and Accelerated Editions)
Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (2nd edition)
Spirit of '77
Monster of the Week

And I've played one-shot sessions of...

GURPS
Blue Rose
Call of Cthulhu
Fiasco
Trophy
Lasers & Feelings
The Final Girl
Star-Crossed

What non-Pathfinder/Starfinder TTRPGs have you all been playing?

Game System: Spirit of 77
Adventure Title: BEAST-Bound and Down

GM: Mike “Haladir” Ferdinando

This game ran at PaizoCon 2019, in the 9:00 AM slot on Saturday, May 25.

Spirit of 77 is a “Powered by the Apocalypse” RPG of 1970s pop-culture action-adventure.

Theme Song!!

Before the game: Intros & set-up
After introducing ourselves, I gave a brief talk about emotional safety at the game table. Specifically, I stated that every individual at the table is more important than the game, and that I want to provide the best possible experience. I went over a couple of RPG table safety tools, including the X-Card and the concept of Lines and Veils. We took a couple of minutes establishing lines and veils for the game.

After going over our safety tools, I mentioned a few qualms that I have with the game as published, with two things in particular:

First, as So77 was designed by two white dudes, I was somewhat uncomfortable with the game’s use of Black English vernacular and the judicious tropes of Blaxploitation movies throughout the book.

Second, one of the Roles (analogous to character classes) in the game is called the “Good Ol’ Boy”. This is a “driver” character that has a cool (and nigh-indestructible) car: The title is clearly taken from the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. However, the term “Good Ol’ Boy” is itself problematic, having negative (racist) connotations, at least to a Yankee like myself. I said that in our game, we have changed the name of the Role to “Gearhead”, taken from the genre of car-focused movies like Vanishing Point, Gone in 60 Seconds, or Bullitt.

After our short safety discussion, I went over the basic rules of Apocalypse Engine games in general, and of So77 in particular. We then spent about 20 minutes creating characters:

Players & Characters:

Mark - “Dugan” (Tough Guy/One Bad Mother)
Champion of the West Coast underground van-racing circuit, the ladies just love “Uncle Duggie.” (Inspired by the villain from the film The Van

Jeremy - “Aaron O’Callahan, P.I.” (Sleuth/Former Badge)
A hard-drinking ex-cop who now investigates cheating spouses and finds lost cats. Inspired by Jim Rockford from The Rockford Files

Avery - “Jimmy Plant” (Rocker/Glam)
Aspiring rock star, who’s just really into the music, man! Doesn’t really want fame, but the fans, man… can’t upset the fans! Inspired by... well, you know.!) Avery said the character is also based on "Brian" from Month Python's Life of Brian, as he didn't seek fame, but had it thrust upon him.

Ben - “‘Baby-Face’ Billy” (Bopper/Ex-Con)
Leather-clad leader of the biker gang “The Chain Lynx”. Has a loyal dog animal companion named ‘Spike’ who rides in a sidecar and wears a German WWI helmet. The gang rides along, too.

Dustin - “Pete McGraw” (Gearhead/Humble Beginnings)
Small-town boy tryin’ to do the right thing, but always gettin’ caught up in crazy schemes. An amazing driver with a cool car. (NOTE: Everyone kind of forgot about the car, and it never appeared in the game!)

The Game
The game started in media res.

GM: “It’s 1977. You’re speeding east down Highway 18 in a stolen Gettysburg Beer truck with a trailer full of cold ones. So… who’s bright idea was it to steal this truck?”

The players decided that it was Dugan’s idea: They were all hanging out at a truck stop, broke, and decided that they wanted some beer. A Gettysburg Beer truck pulled up and… the rest was history!

Time to run a flashback scene: Stealing the truck.

Flashback: Two Hours Ago

At the Highway 18 Truck Stop, the gang was waiting around for something to happen. A Gettysburg Beer truck pulled up, and the gang all exchanged knowing glances... "Hey! Free beer!"

After the truck pulled up, Jimmy Plant walked up to the cab and offered the driver a drag on his joint. C.J. Trucker, the driver, accepted the friendly offer, but not long after stepping out, Dugan, Billy, and the Chain Lynx Gang surrounded him. They made him a proposition: Give us the keys, or else.

This triggered a Get What You Want move from Dugan. He rolled 2d6 plus Smooth (+1), for a 9: Success...but. The GM decided that C.J. would comply but also withhold some important information...

C.J. handed over the keys. “Okay man! I don’t want no trouble! Here!” Jimmy said, “Thanks! Oh, here!” and placed three more joints into C.J.’s shirt pocket as a consolation prize.

Aaron decided to check out the truck’s cargo, Billy rounded up the Lynx to ride escort, Pete got behind the wheel of the rig, Jimmy loaded his amp and guitar into the cab, and Dugan brought two cases of beer from the trailer into the cab.

I asked Jimmy's player to roll a d6: The Die of Fate (higher is better). He rolled a 2. Something bad was about to happen...

A sheriff patrol car started to pull into the truck stop. While the cruiser's lights/siren weren't on, the deputy was looking in the party's direction. At that, Pete started the truck and hit the road… with Aaron still in the trailer! Aaron pulled the gate shut and switched on the interior lights. Bzzt! The fluorescent lights buzzed and flashed on, with one tube flickering annoyingly. The camera cut to the rig hitting the road from the truck stop parking lot, with the biker gang following. Cut to C.J. Trucker, standing next to a gas pump. He shakes his head, takes a long toke, and as he exhales he mutters, "They have NO idea..."

Cut to now.

Continued…

Thanks to Greg for running this game on apparent short notice. I know that he had a lot on his plate, and that this game was difficult to run.

I'm sorry that I had to excuse myself about halfway through this game due to receiving an important phone call about two hours in.

To be honest: Even if I hadn't been called out of the game, I would very likely have resigned from it: I had been considering just that when I received that frantic call from home.

I have some critiques...

1. This game should have been rated "18+." I found the content extremely disturbing (and not in a good/fun way).

2. When printing character sheets for a game being run at a con, it would be very helpful to new players if you included the game mechanics about all of the characters' various powers and abilities on the character sheets. None of us at the table were experienced Starfinder players, and none of us had the rulebook with us. We spent the first 40 or so minutes of the session just looking up our characters' abilities on a very slow-loading "Archives of Nethys."

3. While I suppose that I should have guessed the nature of the horror presented in a game called Abattoir 8, I was expecting something more akin to Alien than Saw. To be honest, this kind of gross-out/splatter-horror is very much not my cup of tea. If I had known the horror sub-genre that was being explored in this game, I would not have signed up for it.

4. I very much did NOT appreciate having the extremely disturbing art from the adventure sprung on me without a content warning. Again—if I had known what was coming, I would have declined to view it.

My suggestion for the future would be to have some clear content warnings about games like this, and to be very frank in the game description about exactly how dark a game like this will go.

I am glad about one aspect of playing in this game: I had backed the Grimmerspace Kickstarter, but now that I know what the content is going to be like, I realize that I will never, ever use such content at my table. This gave me time to cancel my pledge before my credit card was charged.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando

Discussion thread for "BEAST-Bound and Down" for the Spirit of '77 RPG, at PaizoCon 2019

Date: Sat, 25 May 2019
Time: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Olympic 3

Hi, folks!

I am really exited to run this session of Spirit of '77 by MonkeyFun Studios, the "Powered by the Apocalypse" RPG of 1970s pop-culture action-adventure! To be played at MAXIMUM VOLUME!

Here's the breakdown of how I'm planning to run the session:

Player introductions: 9:00 - 9:10
Safety at the game table discussion: X-Card, Lines & Veils (9:10 - 9:20)
So77 rules, setting, and tone overview: (9:20 - 9:45)
Option 1: Character Creation: (9:45 - 10:15)
Option 2: Pre-gen Character Selection: (9:45 - 10:00)
Gameplay: through 12:45
Debrief: Stars and Wishes

Let me know if you have any questions!

Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando

Discussion thread for "Corpse Astray" for the Swords of the Serpentine RPG, at PaizoCon 2019

Date: Fri 24 May 2019
Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Olympic 2

Hi, folks!

I am really exited to run this session of the new game Swords of the Serpentine, a GUMSHOE RPG by Kevin Kulp, which will be published later this year by Pelgraine Press. We'll be using the final beta version of the rules.

Here's the breakdown of how I'm planning to run the session:

Player introductions: 1:00 - 1:10
Safety at the game table discussion: X-Card, Lines & Veils (1:10 - 1:20)
SotS rules & setting overview: (1:20 - 1:45)
Option 1: Character Creation: (1:45 - 2:15)
Option 2: Pre-gen Character Selection: (1:45 - 2:00)
Gameplay: through 4:45
Debrief: Stars and Wishes

Let me know if you have any questions!

Mike "Haladir" Ferdinando

It's been over a month since credible accusations of sexual and emotional abuse were made against RPG designer Zak S. Many leaders in the RPG industry issued statements condemning him (including WotC, GenCon, and DriveThruRPG). One voice that was conspicuous in its silence is Paizo's.

While I don't believe this individual has ever done work for Paizo, products he'd written had once been for sale at the Paizo online store. (Those products seem to have been quietly removed, and I do applaud their removal.)

Some individual Paizo staff members have made public statements of support for the people Zak preyed upon, and you should be commended. Thank you!

But as a leader in a small industry, I believe that Paizo has a responsibility to protect its customers and fans from malicious actors like Zak S, and to publicly condemn such people when their actions come to light. We are a small community, and we cannot allow predators in our midst.

So, Paizo: Will an official statement be forthcoming?

I believe Mandy.
I believe Vivka.
I believe Hannah.
I believe Jennifer.

Just read an interesting article about the Gary Gygax estate, ongoing disputes about it, and a long interview with his widow Gail Gygax.

https://kotaku.com/fantasys-widow-the-fight-over-the-legacy-of-dungeons-183 3127876

One thing that annoyed me about the article is its treatment of interviewee Frank Mentzer, and how the author downplayed Mentzer's well-documented pattern of harrassment and abusive behavior, especially toward women.

Still... a very interesting read.

I've been thinking about running a Pathfinder AP using alternate RPG systems.

It would be fairly straightforward to convert an AP to another OGL system, like 5e or Swords and Wizardry, or even another non-OGL heroic fantasy game like Fantasy AGE or Dungeon World.

But I'm thinking of taking the core plot of an AP as a guideline to use in a completely different system that's attuned to the AP's theme.

How about running...

"Strange Aeons" in Trail of Cthulhu?

"Council of Thieves" in Blades in the Dark?

"Serpent's Skull" in Spirit of the Century?

"Iron Gods" in Apocalypse World?

"Carrion Crown" in Dread?

"Hell's Rebels" in Comrades?

Thoughts?

My group has been playtesting a new GUMSHOE-based sword-and-sorcery RPG from Pelgrane Press:

Swords of the Serpentine

Because the game is still in playtest, I can't really disclose too many details... but this game is AMAZING!

I never thought that GUMSHOE would lend itself for robust combat mechanics, but this totally works. And the flavor and mechanics really support a classic sword-and-sorcery vibe: We feel like we're playing a story that would fit perfectly inside a Fafhrd & Grey Mouser or Thieves' World anthology!

I strongly recommend checking it out and getting a copy of the playtest rules for yourself!

I tried to use the "List" function earlier today, and it does not seem to make a bulleted list anymore.

Has anyone taken a look at adapting Pelgrane Press' Lorefinder supplement for 5e?

Lorefinder is a plug-in that adapts the GUMSHOE investigation system for OGL/3.5/PFRPG, and I'm thinking about using it for a 5e game I'm planning. Lorefinder meshes with the Skills and Feats of PFRPG, supplanting a few things. Feats and skills work a lot differently in 5e, so some adaptation is needed.

Before I take a deep dive, I was hoping I could learn some pointers from someone else who's already thought about it.

Thanks!

I am trying to convince a friend to meet me at PaizoCon this year, but she has reservations.

Several years ago, she stopped going to cons due to two incidents of harrassment at other RPG cons... once as a guest, and once as a paid staff member of the con. Both incidents left her shaken, and she found that the organizers didn't have an effective anti--harrassment policy. She ended up leaving both con when they would not eject her harrassers.

Before she would even consider attending PaizoCon, she wants to see PaizoCon's official policy, and also to make sure that it applies equally to guests, volunteers, and paid staff.

Given the discussion of Bill Webb's appearance at Gary-Con, and the knowledge that he caused an incident at PaizoCon two years ago (and the resulting fallout)...

1) What is Paizo's anti-harrassment policy for PaizoCon?

2) Does it apply equally to guests, volunteers, and paid staff?

Thanks!

I think it would be helpful if you asked how many play sessions it took groups to complete each section.

It took my group three play sessions to finish Part 1... and we skipped the boss battle (the GM just narrated it rather than playing it out.)

We took four sessions to finish Part 2, and the GM decided to skip the fight with the Night Heralds.

We have not started Part 3 yet.

Honestly... we are not having all that much fun with the playtest.

Hi, folks.

My current subscription order (7436628) spawned on 9/28, but is still showing as "Pending," more than two weeks later.

According to the October subscription release thread, all orders should have shipped.

Also: none of the subscription digital assets have been added to my library (including It Came From Hollow Mountain, Runeplague, and Sandpoint: Light of the Lost Coast).

There was some earlier weirdness with my Sidecart... I'm guessing that might have been the hold-up.

Could someone take a look at my order?

Thanks!

—Haladir

Hello, Paizo Customer Service!

I just placed order 5383851.

I had intended to apply my accumulated credit balance of $25 to this order, and to also try to use the "downtime" promo code.

But the ordering system never seemed to offer either of those as an option at any point in the transaction. For that matter, it didn't offer me to select which credit card I have on file. (The default card is fine.)

I was using Outlook for Android on a Samsung Galaxy S7, with all current updates & patches applied.

Would you be able to apply my $25 credit balance to that order?

(I know chose Sidecart, and that I have another pending order; I am expecting this order to ship with my October subscription.)

Also: I wasn't sure if the "downtime" promo code is still valid, or if it would apply to my order... The site was still down every time I tried to use the Store until now. If the code is valid for this, would you also apply it?

Thanks!!