agirlisnotreadytobecomenoone's page

This blog and its responses warm my heart! This is so important to many people I love, and one of the reasons PF has my undying support.

This is, in fact, a longer name for a text, rather than an abbreviation, but I think it is still relevant to the thread. One of my players once accidentally asked to see the "Bestiality book", rather than the Bestiary. She left the game two years ago, but it is still the "bestiality book" to my group.

So, this is probably not conducive to the type of dialogue you are intending to stimulate, but it seems like this is one of 1,001 situations in PF where the GM and players talk it over for a minute and then create a common sense ruling that works for the table. If you're hoping to alter the rules from a PFS standpoint, don't hold your breath weapon.

Also, if a colossal dragon is standing next to you, it seems more likely that it would just use its full attack to,you know,
kill you, which would make picking your pocket even easier.

I have always played in a balanced (or female-dominant) gaming group. I never even think about it anymore, but looking back to my youth (2nd edition D & D in the late 80's!), the perception of girl/women gamers seemed much different then. I guess I would compare it to females reading comic books or loving fantasy films; of course we were all out there, but society kinda made it seem like we weren't, or that there was something strange about us. Anyway, that perception seems to be significantly diminished in this generation. Thankfully.

As for me, I was always the one running the game, so I got to create the scenarios, storylines, NPCs, etc. and the players just had to deal with it! If anyone wanted a male-dominated, stereotypical gaming experience, they usually did not stick around long.

CG has always been a fav, because I love the idea of being a good-hearted rebel. I believe if you strip away social convention, religion, indoctrination, people still have the capacity to be good human beings and do the right thing. In fact, maybe that's when people are at their best. Not that CG characters can't have belief systems and structure of a sort, but it seems less imposed upon them by some societal more or myopic view of the world. They do what they believe is right because they choose to.

Then again, it is also fun to be the Lawful character in a less-than-structured group of players. Leads to some interesting dialogue, to say the least.

Thanks, everyone. I guess I am irrationally hoping they create a special edition of Curse eventually, as they did with RotRL, so I'll take as look at the others mentioned more closely. I actually have questions about Reign of Winter as well, so anyone who wants to provide more details on the topic would be welcome.

Which AP (besides RotRL) has the most cohesive story from module to module (or the most potential for it)?

My entire group enjoys playing, though only one of them is a rules-stickler. I try to be fair and quick with rulings. If a player finds a rule that is relevant or makes sense, then I may or may not change the ruling. The system itself is just too much in some ways, but they clearly state you can use as little or as much of it as you like.

As for the world itself, there are lots of interesting characters, a ton of material to draw from, and all kinds of story ideas to use as one sees fit.

I can totally see people not being in favor of a lot of the rules and some aspects of the game that can slow things to a crawl, but, again, all of that stuff is optional if you are playing with a group of friends in the privacy of your own home.

This is not always feasible, but I had two different "first" sessions. I had two PCs enter Sandpoint for the first time, meet different people and have them visit locations that were relevant to them individually. I did the same with the other two PCs later that week. That way, each character had connections to different aspects of the town, and there was plenty of time for one-on-one rp. Ultimately, I had them all meet up in The Rusty Dragon in the third session.

Everyone's comments about how important it is to have the players invested in Sandpoint are spot on. I am moving pretty quickly through the AP, but it was definitely worth taking time to establish relationships and connections in the opening chapters.

RotRL is the first AP my group has played, and both the vets (twenty-five years of gaming experience each) and the "new kids" (only a few months to years of gaming) are enjoying the story quite a bit.

We are moving much quicker than those who commented above, despite the fact that the players all enjoy the roleplaying aspect of games. I have cut out some of the less crucial battles, and, if your party plays their cards right, they can accomplish some of the main objectives in the third and fourth chapters while avoiding several time-consuming fights with guardians/lackeys. We've reached the final sections of chapter four in about 20 4-5 hour sessions.

My point: It allows you to play at a pace that works for your party, gives you plenty of options of how the story can unfold, and lots of interesting NPCs/villains to use as much or as little as you like. So, it's good. I'm concerned which AP to choose next to keep the energy going toward the end of the year when I wrap RotRL.

My players have no problem taking on the role of heroes and following the course of the story, but I do want them to feel like they have choices. Mostly, I just want to use an AP that others have enjoyed using because of exciting locations and good story elements. You hav been helpful.

Too many rules. This game has some great characters, settings, visuals, and storylines. When I GM, I ignore as many detailed, extensive rules as possible. My group does not mind at all. They like taking on the roles of other people, not math.

I just started playing PF in Jan (after MANY years of playing other RPGs). One of the things I was most impressed with when I began exploring the game is the connection you have with Paizo fans/players/fellow adventurers, etc. Obviously, this method of contact did not exist back in the days of yore, but if you could have asked Gary Gygax or any other pioneers of the Game a question via this method in your youth, what would it have been?

I have recently begun looking at feedback about various APs, but nothing jumped out at me as being ideal for my group. I will probably avoid any 3.5 APs for the near future (holding out hope of an eventual RotRL-like compilation despite evidence to the contrary?) I know people have their preferences, and I can probably modify anything to fit gaming style, but I have heard some APs are just more "fighty" and more structured than others. Also, it seems hard to find a storyline that captivates for six full chapters, especially when people say some of the chapters don't connect particularly well to previous ones.

Thanks for the feedback. What are you favs?

I have been playing PF since January and just finished RotRL (as the GM). My group consists of four members who enjoy a healthy balance of character development along with the mandatory combat, with an emphasis on enjoying exploring new settings. They don't like getting bogged down with excessive rules or spend too much time character hoarding/powering up. They enjoy building relationships with NPCs.

What's the next AP I should invest in? I don't have a ton of other books (Core (duh), Best I & II, Ult Equip, Inner Sea Guide), but would be willing to purchase more if crucial to the AP.

I have enjoyed running PF because I like the material provided in RotRL (personalities of NPCs and monsters, combat tactics, visuals). It gave me enough to run the game as I saw fit without number-crunching and starting from scratch. RotRL was a little too constricting at times (or maybe too linear), but there were enough bits to riff off of. I know APs are limiting in this regard, but I am just not able to commit the time to creating whole new storylines around gazetteer-like material.