allen trussell's page

Boggle: I haven't read all of the posts, so maybe someone has said this. The main reason to have a bard class is its an interesting role-playing option. A character that is a jack-of-all-trades, and an expert in social interaction. A character that can extoll the virtues of his allies and demoralize the enemy. A character that is both respected and reviled by the society he lives in. A character that is extremely knowledgeable about every topic. Sure, a rogue can out-sneak a bard, a fighter can out-fight him, the wizard can out-spell him and the cleric can out-proselytize him. But the bard can do it all.

...I like the Vancian system personally, it's part of what makes D&D feel like D&D. At least for me.

You know, that's a big part of my dislike of 4E: for all its faults, Vancian magic feels like D&D. Without it, its just not the same.

I'm with you here, Velderan. The biggest failing of Incarnum and the Tome of Magic was the fact that their systems required their own, special obscure classes that were spellcasters that didn't cast spells, but turds. And these abilities were largely (or completely) unavailable to other classes. Sadly, the same can also be said of psionics, divine magic or arcane magic. I guess for me, alternate magic systems have just kind of sucked. Why create 7 systems of magic when 2 should do just fine within the game? That said, I'm always up for looking at new systems; I hope someday someone will come up with something good.

Ooh... and kender! I hate f@#&%$g kender!!!! And the kender-ization of the halfling race! Damn you, Tasslehoff! Damn you to the Nine Hells!!!

I know its still some time away, but I am stirred with anticipation for the next RPG Superstar competition. The last two have provided a great deal of excitement, entertainment and solid advice from the experts. With the Pathfinder rules finalized and out, I can't wait to see what this season holds!

Its a ditto for me on gnomes, and for all of the same reasons. Gnomes are kind of dwarf, kind of elf, kind of halfling, and lots of annoying. Various versions have tried to make something out of gnomes, and either made them a nuisance, over-the-top, or boring. No gnomes. Crunchwise, I think the half-elf has always been underwhelming, in every version, though I like the fluff.

Wow. Just wow. I love it... :)

Saw it midnight showing on Thursday, 8/13.

Saw it Monday, 8/17.

I'm going to buy this movie. Awesomesauce! The effects alone make it worthwhile, then there's the story, the acting, the directing and the writing. Very well-done, very good movie. I highly recommend it.

On another movie note - avoid the Perfect Getaway at all costs. I saw it free.

I want my money back.

Mosaic wrote:

But Reaper has been experimenting with pre-painted plastic - I've bought a couple, they look good -

How do they look compared to the current Dungeon and Dragon's plastic mini's? So far I've been severely disappointed to the point I refuse to buy them ;-(

I haven't bought any of the Reaper PPs, but from the pics on their site, they look better than the WotC ones.

A bit more -

Several folks are commenting on minis for the Pathfinder APs. While I think this is a good idea, not all of us use the APs. So, please, don't make just minis for the APs, but for all of us gamers out there. Thanks!

Some thoughts:

Prepainted plastic vs. white metal: Although not everyone has the time/ability/patience to paint their metal minis (MM), they ultimately look better than prepainted plastics (PP). Personally, I'd rather see PPs of common things like orcs, goblins, etc., that one might need a horde of, and MMs for unique/special figures. I know that's probably unrealistic from a business standpoint two run two minis lines, so I'd go for the MMs, and pick up another comapany's PPs for the hordes.

Miniatures Subscription: While I am not much of a subscriber these days, I think a minis subscription would be good. Back in the day, Grenadier had a Dragon of the Month, and later Giant of the Month, line. Something like that could be really cool; a kind of "Iconic of the Month" line, each month featuring an iconic creature. That's something I'd subscribe to in a heartbeat.

Adventurer Minis: There are already a lot of adventurer minis out there, from Reaper and others. Yet there are always folks who want just the "right" figure for their PC or NPC. Easily modifiable minis for such figures would be nice to see. A figure that comes with optional pieces - different weapons/heads/accoutrements - in the blister would be useful for this. Also, Ral Partha used to make a line of figs where there were three versions of the same character - a low-level, mid-level and high-level version. That would be nice, too.

Just my two coppers...

Wow. Hmmmm.

I'd be very interested to hear what people would be looking for in a minis subscription. The more comments on that the better, as far as I'm concerned, because to tell you the truth we haven't really even considered it.

But it does seem a bit obvious, now that someone has brought it up.

Hmmmmm.

You know, I was thinking just this week that the next step in promoting Pathfinder should be a miniatures line...

Personally, I'd love to see more monsters. I have seen enough PCs, thank you very much!

Got mine on 8/11/2009. This is one hefty book! :)

I noticed some prestige classes aren't in the book: Archmage, Blackguard, Dwarven Defender, Heirophant, Horizon Walker and Thaumaturgist, all of which are in the SRD. The red wizard isn't SRD, so it makes sense it wasn't included. The prestige classes present are the same ones in the beta pdf, spiffed up. I'm wondering what the decision was to omit these. There are plenty of other changes, too, but this is the one I felt worth noting at this time.

woot! Gratz to all you fine Paizo folks! I'm glad I got my pre-order in months ago!

A few people have mentioned wanting to see more Golarion themed material in the Pathfinder RPG support products. I, for one, do not. After all, that's what Pathfinder Companion and Pathfinder Chronicles are for. I would be more apt to buy Pathfinder RPG products as long as they remain generic. I want an RPG that can be used for any setting, not one filled with setting-specific material. No offense to Golarion, mind you. :)

I know I'm going to draw some 4E aggro here, but maybe you could adopt that strategy; each year sees a new rulebook with new options for the existing game, as well as a new monster book. Next year is "Pathfinder II" with psionics rules, epic level rules and options for classes and races at all levels. In 2011, "Pathfinder III", with still more options and variants, and so on. To expand on earlier comments by myself and others, variants and options could include variant magic systems, new combat options, rules for thieving characters, new uses of bardic magic, etc. Monstrous races seems to be a semi-popular subject; tack that into an expanded rulebook.

In July we officially kick off the Pathfinder RPG with the release of the Pathfinder Bestiary. The massive Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook follows in August, but beyond that we have not yet announced additional rules support for the game.

That support IS coming, and we're in the process of finalizing what form it will take.

The current plan is to release between 2-3 hardcover rulebooks per year, including additional Pathfinder Bestiaries.

What form would you like these books to take? Would you be interested in subscribing to such a line, provided the books cost somewhere around $35 a pop?

What titles/ideas would you like to see us explore?

We're all worried about rules bloat. What is your opinion of new classes and races?

Are you as tired of prestige classes as I am?

Discuss.

I am definitely looking forward to new Pathfinder releases. I would like to see 3-4 books a year, but understand if its less. Now that said, here's what I'd like to see:

I definitely want to see hardcover books. They're more durable, and cheaper by the page than paperbacks. I'd like to see all material presented clearly and well-indexed. I don't want to have to hunt down rules. I would subscribe for good, useful books and would enjoy a free pdf of the books purchased.

New classes and races are occasionally useful, but rarely so. I'd rather see ways to alter existing ones, a la Unearthed Arcana. There are a couple of classes I can think of that I'd like to see - a knight and a pirate - but even these could be made using existing core classes. Likewise, pretige classes are an interesting idea, an have their place in the game, but I don't need nine thousand of them! A few really good/useful/iconic PrC's, please. Same goes for feats - feats are a great addition to the game, but I don't need so many. And I hate useless feats - x feat grants a +2 to x skill and x skill. Boring.

To sum up, I want to see a handful of "updated" 3.5 books, and then new concepts that give the players and DMs options, without a ton of feats, prestige classes, and spells. The occasional new monster book, too.

OK, I haven't read through all the posts here, so I may be repeating other's sentiments.

First and foremost, in the spirit of the PFRPG, I think a psionics book should be an updated, "fixed" version of the XPH. While I don't have a problem with that book, I know that others do. But I do not want a Pathfinder Psionics book that takes the name and concept, and then scraps the rules for an entirely new system. That, I feel, is not in the spirit of the Pathfinder philosophy of backwards compatability. Psionic power points have been the staple of psionics since first edition, and represent some of the "difference" of psionics.

As to what psionics means to me; a different magic. The powers of the psychic mind. The ability to control aspects of the body. The ability to read and influence the minds of others. The ability to ascertain information beyond the use of the five senses. The ability to create and manipulate materials and powers through the force of will. Now, admittedly, a lot of this is already covered in both divine and arcane magic. So what makes psionics different? In the case of divine magic, the power is granted by a deity. In arcane magic, through the recitation of arcane formulae. Psionics is the inherent strength of personal will. No outside force grants the psion power; it comes from within.

I want to see Paizo do a Pathfinder Psionics book. I want to see how you fine folks can improve psionics. I do not to see the current system scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.

I would like you to do class books ala Sword and Fist or the Complete Fighter's Handbook from 2e. But, I don't want a buttload of feats and prestige classes. I want design information. I want variant fighter options and abilities (not new sucky base classes). I want thoughts on how to design good classes that are like the fighter. I want to know how the fighter works best in the game, how to play the fighter most effectively, and what type of player likes fighters the best. I want fighters that are tailored to the player races and some of the applicable monsters. I want a mini-campaign in the last chapter that gives me a garrison for my all-fighter campaign set in Absalom with a handful of adventure seeds, and a few NPCs (friendly and not-so-friendly). I want to know if an all-fighter campaign is even possible. And if you absolutely must, I will accept a small small small handful of feats and prestige classes - but no filler. I only want stuff that is so awesome, I need my Paizo Fighter Handbook. As a litmus test, if the feat is "you get +2 on two skills" it is filler and should be cut.

Then I want the above for rogues, wizards, druids, etc. I want a single definitive book for each class and I want it to be made of pure 100% awesome.

Think: the Thieves Handbook or Fighters Handbook from 2e, each of which set the bar for what a class book should be (and which, sadly, none of the...

I've got second this: one of the things I hated about the 3E splatbooks was the overabundance of feats and prestige classes. Yes, they're neat options in the game, but I don't need that much. There is plenty of other things that can go into such books. I do want to see Pathfinder splatbooks on classes and races, but I want a lot of material besides feats, PrC's and "new core classes" that aren't needed.

Jeff Dee?

Boo-yah! Jeff Dee! I'd also love to see some Elmore and Easley work for Paizo.

Maybe you just saw the ghoul of your dreams... :)

Engaging in a little forum necromancy here, I just read the yahoo articel about the Iron Mountain Mine, and dug it up on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Mountain_Mine). Source of inspiration? Good to use for further development, at least. I especially love the acidophilic aerobic bacteria; gives me ideas for a unique ooze for the Stained Peaks.

I'm thinking Allen's is Poe but I don't have my Poe handy. Is it from Murders in the Rue Morgue?

Nope. Lovecraft, I'll give you that much.

On this side of class, Monte Cook just thanked people for buying pdfs. You can read the post on his livejournal (http://montecook.livejournal.com/). Very classy.

Congrats, Neil! I look forward to your module.

Nethersight Torch

Some thought it was just a pumped up see invisible in a can that helps your friends (spell in a can). Others thought it was useful but uninspired. All agreed it was not Superstar. And at least one judge noted that it reminded us of last year’s Torch of Solidity, which was awesome–and this one was not awesome. No doubt this one is good enough for a book of magic items. Just needs to go to the next level.

Thanks, Clark. That's pretty much what I got from Sean, as well as your comments on my "Almost Also Ran" items. This is good feedback; it has let me know that I need to step things up for next year.

thunderspirit wrote:

Mistah J wrote:

I cannot count how many times have I had the "deer-in-the-headlights" look when my players say "and what is your name?"

QFT.

I have one player in my regular group who routinely talks up the most mundane characters in the steadfast belief that there is no such thing as an NPC whose sole campaign purpose is to propel the plot along.

::twitch:: Oooh, bad memories return ... player talked to EVERYONE, and wanted to know their names, and get to be friends with some ... and then would get royally pissed when I either didn't have the information (it's just a shopkeep for gawd's sake!) or if I did make something up, that it wasn't then vital in some way to the game. ::rolls eyes and shudders:: Danged if you do situation to the extreme ... I was very happy when the other players finally got annoyed with him and arranged his death ::laughing::

I've always had the opposite problem; I'd create fleshed-out NPCs, and my players would ignore them. Even the important ones.

Back to the original thread, I'd like to see pre-made NPC stat blocks, yes, but I honestly doubt I'd buy a book on such. This falls into the "useful, but boring" category. Maybe a free web enhancement, or an appendix within a book.

Instead of translating a selection multiple times, just do what I do. Translate it into traditional chinese and back. Nothing mangles a text faster. I should know.

Doing that with my author bit was actually still to close to the author's actual prose...

Ooh! Ooh! Here's one that's even mildly gamer-related:

"That the cured Smurf not science and c'; the philosophy for examines is necessary an error was. These things are necessary the cold and impersonal investigator, qu'; parce it leaves? they offer to two also solutions tragic alternatives to them to l'; part lowland? Person of the feeling and d'; Action? s' desespérese? it loses in its surveying and the terror unausdrückbaren and s' inconceivable? it has of the happened one."

Hints: English to Spanish to Italian to German to French to Greek to English. A famous author familiar to many gamers, especially fans of pulp era horror.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 9

Since this followed a bit of translation, I wanted to throw out the same passage translated via BabelFish from English, to Spanish, to Italian, to Greek, to French, to German, and then back into English:

Smurfy!

Well played, sir, well played! Good luck to you and your son. I hope to see more from you both in the future!

I would like to see Pathfinder do at least some work on the epic level rules. The big miss I feel on these rules is the lack of "epic" abilities for epic characters. Sure, a 35th level fighter is powerful, but all he's getting is new feats. An epic barbarian gets more DR and can rage more times per day. The epic spellcasters can get epic spells, if they take the right feats and have the right skills. It just seems that an epic level anything should get some unique, powerful abilities. Also, in another thread, I saw someone complain about adding "Epic" onto everything. I agree; that just seemed very lazy, like "This goes to 11!" (but not as cool). I'd like to see some revamp to the epic rules, someday...

Smurf, smurfity smurfin' smurf!

deinol wrote:

I wasn't sure I wanted to post mine here, but here goes. I really liked my name and theme, but I didn't have time to tighten the mechanics as much as I would have liked.

deinol wrote:

Whisk of the Saucerer

Aura faint transmutation; CL 3rd
Slot -; Price 6,000 gp; Weight ½ lb.

Description
Three times per day this mithral whisk allows the user to combine two potions together without harmful effect. Drinking the new potion activates the benefits of both of the original potions. Once mixed, a combined potion cannot be further blended. While the concoction remains delicious for much longer, it must be used within one day or the magical properties of the potion are lost. In addition to this blending ability, this whisk allows the user to mix potions into food. Eating the prepared food activates the benefits of the potion. The wielder can cook with a +5 competence bonus on Craft (cooking) checks.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, mending, creator must have 5 ranks in the Craft (cooking) skill; Cost 3,000 gp

Don't know if this one has been reviewed already, but I am going to give it a shot.

1) name, saucerer or sorcerer? If it is the former than your whisk doesn't really life up to its name because no sauce is mentioned. If you meant sorcerer, well then you made an error.

2) combining potions, not a problem.

3) mixing it with food, does this cost a charge? And what happens if more than 1 person eats the food? You don't provide a guideline for this very likely event.

4) +5 craft bonus, I think cooking is a profession.

In the end it is a nice item, it has some problems though.

Perhaps "Whisk of the Saucier"? A saucier is a chef specializing in sauces. Bon appetit!

I've been reading through a few more posts, and I've noticed people talking about psionic "novas" and at least one person even stated a problem of psions being able to augment without limit. This is not so; the rules on page 63 of the XPH clearly state that a power can only be augmented with as many power points as the character has manifester levels - "However, you can spend only a total number of points on a power equal to your manifester level." (XPH). Personally, I like the augmenting mechanic; it gives a different feel to psionics that magic lacks.

I've never taken a group to epic levels yet, nor have I played to epic levels. That said, I've read the 3E epic level rules and... I don't particularly care for them. I don't like the idea that once a character tops 20th level, everything changes. Suddenly, you use a different mechanic for almost everything your character does. I would like to see new abilities come into play at epic levels, abilities that aren't just "an old ability taken to the X!". More than anything, though, I'd like to see good epic level support; adventures, hooks, fluff and the like. I want epic level rules that make me really want to get into epic levels!

Wow, there's a lot of posts here; I haven't read them all. Here's my feelings on psionics. I have a love/hate relationship with psionics. I love the powers, the different style and mechanics, the "otherness" of psionics. I also feel its not appropriate for most fantasy settings, especially with arcane and divine magic around. I would still buy a Pathfinder psionics book if it made psionics more "fantasy", more like a strange magic. Green Ronin's "Psychic's Handbook" gave an interesting variation; in it, psychic powers were basically individual skills and/or skill boosts, the use of which caused "drain", represented by non-lethal damage. Unfortunately, going this route or something similar would entail a total rewrite of the psionics system, which is not really in keeping with the Pathfinder RPG spirit of "backwards compatability". There is a market for psionics, and I believe Paizo should produce such a book. It should tweak the current psionics rules, but I'm not sure in what manner. I guess I'd want to see is psionics move closer to a fantasy standard, and not a tacked-on bit of weirdness, in order to use it in my games.

I never liked the idea of Track as a feat; I made Track a skill. Rangers were able to add their class level to Track. In collapsing skills, I would put tracking as a feature of Search, to both find and follow tracks. This also avoids variants for urban tracking and wilderness tracking.

Earlier today, I was going over some old issues of Dungeon, and I ran across an adventure with one of the lamest villain names I've seen in quite a while: Grubby Stinkhorn. Now, most halflings have humorous names - Stubby Proudfoot, Rosy Tanglehair, Tabby Brambleweed, and so on. But Grubby Stinkhorn? Why not Smelly Nosewart? Or Stinky McStinkerson? I mean, come on... If it had at least been Gruber "Grubby" Stinkhorn I could have accepted it a little better.

While in the real world few people will name their children "Arcanus Necrophage", and rarely would a "villain" give him/herself similarly sinister sounding appellations, we are dealing with fictional characters and stories. "Darth Vader" was not born such, as we all know, and few people would have accepted "Anakin Skywalker, aka Anni, Dark Lord of the Sith" as the villain of those works. In fiction, a subtle name can forshadow a villain, while an obviously villainous name can immediate invoke dread from the reader. Thus, while I doubt any NPC would knowingly travel as "Arcanus Necrophage, friendly shopkeep", I would expect to see "Arcanus Necrophage, Lord of the Undead" as the villain. As was pointed out in some of the judges' comments, one of the items that could help make or break a villain is the name. In the words of Ruby Rod, "It must, pop, Pop, POP!"

I haven't read all the posts here, but let me add some of the cliches I've seen in my 30 years of gaming:
The Mad Wizard - he's evil because he's insance! And he's a powerful wizard, too!
The Evil Cultist - he's out to usher in a new era, destroying all and gaining the favor of his alien god!
The Fallen Hero - once a great hero, tragedy has made him a villain; usually undead.
The Scheming Monster - mastermind of a vast criminal network, he controls the city from behind the scenes. The twist: he's not human! Insert intelligent monster here.
The Misunderstood Villain - he means well, he really does, but all his plans ultimately bring sorrow and death.
The Toady - no matter how powerful or weak he is, this guy serves a more powerful leader, and blusters in the face of heroes, until things go wrong for him.
The Lost Child - through some McGuffin, this character still has the morals and ethics of a child, yet with godlike power.
The Alien Unknown - this is a being of such vast, alien wrong-ness that its mere presence is evil, though it itself is largely unaware of the world around it.

And that's just my two cents.

Nethersight Torch

My original comments:
It's a "potion" of see invisibility, except it helps all your friends instead of just you.
Spell-in-a-can.

Thank you, Sean. That's exactly what I figured. I have to step up my creativity for next year!

If I had made the 32, my villain was going to be a paladin whose zealotry in the crusade against evil had led him to perform some pretty villainous acts, and consider any who judged him fallen to be corrupted and misguided...

Emperor7 wrote:

Nerrat Dei wrote:

Well, I don't really need a tag. But I really appreciate the support you have here. Thank you Taig for opening this petition-thread. And thank you Clark for giving helpful and supportive comments. And thank you everybody for your support!

I really, really, really, like this idea for a two age group, kid superstar contest. I like a 7-10 year old age group (the name could be RPG Ministars) and an 11-14 year old age group (name could be could be Teenstars) Anyways, it's a great idea.

Nerrat Dei

Are you sure that you're 8? You sound more mature than most of us. ;-)

Well, now I'm not 8, but I'm 9. My birthday was last week.

Nerrat Dei

Happy (belated) birthday!

I think I'm sure I know what Clark's comments would be; I also value other's thoughts, though. Here's mine:

Nethersight Torch

Aura Moderate Divination; CL 3rd
Slot -; Price 1200 gp; Weight 1 lb.

Description
This unassuming torch can be lit and extinguished normally, and burns with an eerie soft silvery-blue light which illuminates an area equal to only half that of a normal torch. Within this area of illumination (out to 20’ radius) all ethereal, astral, invisible and otherwise un-seeable creatures and objects become visible, appearing translucent. The nethersight torch does not reveal concealed or hidden creatures, only those invisible to normal sight. If creatures made visible by the nethersight torch leave the area of illumination, they return to their invisible state, if such a state still exists. The torch burns for a maximum of 1 hour before being used up.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, see invisibility; Cost 600 gp.

Thanks in advance...

The Book of Heavy Metal

Anyone whose name is written in this book immediately gains a +10 circumstance bonus to all Perform (Heavy Metal) checks they make. Also, that person's Charisma is treated as if increased by 2 in the eyes of evil creatures and young teen males (unless the person is female, then the effective CHA increases by 4).

See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-pN8qAiZhQ

Yeah, I'm certain now my Nethersight Torch was a siac item, especially after Clark's review of my "Almost Also Ran" items. Thanks, and here's looking to next year!

Hear, hear! Let's encourage young talent. Honorary tag for Nerrat Dei.

Very nice item. The only issue I have is with the time the hook remains in spider form. 3 rounds is hardly enough time to climb very far. Still, pretty awesome otherwise. Congrats!