boldstar's page

Tacticslion wrote:

That said, I also suspect that the PF people can do Cosmic Horror, if only because they're pretty good at that sort of thing in general.

No, they are not. I can't think of a standout horror adventure from Paizo that was actually good.

Tacticslion wrote:

I mean, if you want Call of Cthulu was really about, it was about racism and the fact that sea food and scientific learning are terrifying.

Ah, now we have officially entered into Clown Overtime.

How about Feast of Ravensmoor? How about No Response? How about Doom Comes to Dustspawn? All three very different types of horror, but definitely horror. Ravensmoor has a "Wicker Man" vibe. No Reponse is very Machen-ish. Doom is Cosmic Horror comes to a small town. All well done.

Anyone else get a strong "First World" vibe from this Beastiary. A lot of Fey, Magical Creatures, and plants. I know there is a lot more to the book than this, but I just got this great, sylvan feel. BTW, I love this Beastiary.

Yes. My favorite 3rd party doing my new favorite sub genre.

I am going "rule of cool" first. I am interested in what the idea is and whether it wow's me. Then readability. Formatting is a tie breaker. Price doesn't concern me so much cause that is something that can be learned.

Submitted for the first time. Good luck to all.

I first read this as "optimize a hubcap." Oh well...

Old "Grimtooth" trap. A room with 16 foot deep plush carpet.

Just read the article... Lol. This is not news. One of the only things we know that helps the majority of people with ASD is early intervention. Really, the only thing new about this is that a news story actually reported about ASD without talking like the world is about to end. There are a number of studies (large scale) that back up the assertion that early intervention helps. If you are interested, check out the JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS site. They have a good search engine to find relevant articles.

ShadowcatX wrote:

Simon Legrande wrote:

They say 1:68 children has some form of autism, am I the only one who sees that as utterly ludicrous? Am I the only one who thinks too many people just want a drug to make the problems go away?

What are your qualifications to make that decision, because you are going against hundreds, if not thousands, of doctors, and thousands of hours of research.

The problem is that its pretty clear what they're doing to reach that number. They're grouping

Autism

and

"Autism spectrum disorder" which can constitute anything from autism to a personality type known as "the geek".

I don't Think it takes any special training to notice that what most people think of as autism isn't nearly that prevalent.

Actually you are WAY off. All ASD have fairly rigid definitions. Geek doesn't fit the bill. Actually, it is kind of insulting.

As someone who has worked as a behavioral analyst for 10 years, there does seem to be a lot of misinformation spread about an "epidemic" of autism. Please understand that it wasn't until the DSM4 came out that Aspergers was classified under the autism spectrum umbrella. That meant millions more people were officially diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders). In addition to this, we now have a stable method of diagnosing children as early as 24 months (the MCHAT), which is about 4 years earlier than used to happen. Also, now that ASD is more well known, many families (especially from inner cities who may not have found out about their child's needs till they went to school) are seeking treatment earlier. All this leads to a larger population hat are correctly diagnosed with ASD earlier.
Are there doctors who are misdiagnosing children as having an ASD? Undoubtedly. I do believe the main reasons for an explosion of cases is better diagnostics, for the most part.
As to a "cure" for ASD... Well, one of the few things that we absolutely know is that all ASD are neurodevelopmental disorders most likely genetic in nature. There has never, to my knowledge, been a cure for a neurodevelopmental disorder. There are practical, behavioral methods that have been proven to work with many people and some drugs that can help people with ASD to deal with concurrent disorders (like depression and anxiety disorders) that can cause maladaptive behavioral, learning, and sensory integration issues in people with ASD to be even more apparent.
Sorry for the rant, but in have spent many years working with people with ASD and when someone claims to have a cure, it is frustrating as families get sucked in so easily. Then they get hurt.

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WANTING!!!

Did I miss it? No one mentioned Iron Man by Black Sabbath?

The GM smells strongly of bourbon and keeps mumbling something about "that b#><% just left me."
Actually happened in a home game... Coincidentally, we were are eaten by canabalistic pygmies after Demogorgon withered our limbs.

How about talented rogue/alchemist.

By the way, just a thumbs up for any of the Talented line. Freakin awesome!

Cheapy and Mikaze, you are the best. Just want to ride the awesomeness bandwagon.

If y'all can wait till the end of Feb, I will match Mikaze's offer of four copies of Obsidian Apocolypse.

Annals of the Black Company by Glen Cook would make a great series of movies.
Simon Green's "Nightside" novels would make a fun TV series.

Sorry, I don't get why this is a big issue. There are hundreds of choices already available. It is just a picture. I would think that it would be more important to have Paizo employees focussing on making more of the products we love then to spend more resources to make sure everyone gets to have their "special snowflake" avatar. Paizo doesn't make its money off its forums anyway, so why would they do it?

I always take candles. If I am looking for a secret door, the smoke from the candle can be used to outline the door's edges as it smudges the walls and it puts off less light than the torch. Plus, there are about a million things you can do with wax, including makeshift ear plugs.

Urban barbarian. By the way... Maybe the oddest thread I have seen at Paizo. Congrats.

Least favorite thing about 1st Ed: fireball blow-back arguments.

The unwritten rules never allowed it, is what you mean.

C'mon man. This is a straw man argument and you know it. It is based on one unfortunate comment by a Dev that was trying to explain that there are guiding principles to the game design. You don't like the ruling. Ok. You don't agree with the ruling. Ok. I just don't understand why this ruling has brought out so many vehement attacks on the game system and the designers as if they are trying to take your fun away. You don't like it, house rule it and move on. It ain't that deep.

Ok, I have complained several times about the tone and the pointlessness of this thread's length, and then I check back and people are playing nice and having a pretty cool conversation.
I was wrong. There is a point to the thread.
Sorry if I was a part of the nastiness.

Stephen Radney-MacFarland wrote:

Okay, everyone. I know arguing on the internet is fun and all, but this is getting a little heated and flying off into tangents. We have updated the FAQ. We have presented our methodology. You know how and why we got to this decision.

Let's talk about something a little more fun and productive, shall we?

I think perhaps 70%+ of the problem here is how you guys have handled this whole thing and similar issues. Something that has been explained in several posts on the last page or two.

I'd humbly suggest that Paizo should at least reconsider how they are handling rules issues like this where the text is clearly insufficient to support the FAQ.

Wow, just wow. All three Devs have made a concentrated effort to be open and upfront in the rationale for the FAQ. Do you think you could start a blog for Monopoly in which you and twenty other people argued that the FREE PARKING spot should give you money (which the official rule does not allow) and you would get three game Devs from Milton Bradley to come onto the website repeatedly to explain to you why they decided what they decided? I get it, the Devs get it, we al get it: there are some people who don't like the ruling. Just don't act like the Devs aren't listening to your complaints or haven't heard your criticisms. In the case of Monopoly, you would be lucky to get a form letter response once that attempts to clarify the rationale. After that, nothing. Also, I am Actually impressed that the Devs have been as gentle with their responses as they have been. I would have been incredibly rude and then had the thread locked (maybe even had some people banned) for some of the things said. Paizo is allowing you the use of their web page to make your arguments and you think it is the Devs fault that you don't agree with a very minor ruling that effects less than 1/100 th of a percent of the game?

I said this 200 posts before and I probably will two hundred from now... This isn't that big of a deal. We asked for a ruling, we got it. A bunch of people didn't like the ruling and wanted a rationale for the ruling. SKR came on and gae one. A bunch of people didn't like the rationale, so two other Devs came on repeatedly to further explain it. Each time, a bunch of people didn't like what they had to say and complained more. I actually think the Dev team went WAY above and beyond. This is especially true because if you don't like the rule, YOU CAN JUST HOUSE RULE IT. Over a 1000 posts and not one post has disagreed that you can change the rules you don't like. This is beyond silly.

Almost 800 posts... Sorry, I don't get it. The FAQ came out around the100-200 mark. Devs have been on here repeatedly, very nicely explaining the rationale. Still, lots of arguing. This just doesn't feel all that deep people.
Maybe I am wrong. Like I said, don't get it.

I often see the argument "The rulebooks will need to be 1000 pages long!", which I believe is Chicken Licken doomsaying whenever I hear it.

Many of the changes that would clarify problem spells, explain intent, and prevent abuse could be done so with less than one line.

In some cases, it would actually take less space, to explain a rule clearly, than the convoluted way it was originally written.

I would love to agree with you, but after the message boards on TWF and THF (armored spikes FAQ) that exploded the last couple of days I have to disagree. Even when a FAQ clearly explains an unclear rule, a lot of people don't want to hear it. They demand a rationale for the rule. When a dev came on an tried to give the rationale for the FAQ, people wanted a longer, more detailed explanation. A second dev comes on, gives a longer explanation, but it wasn't enough. A third dev came on, gave an even more in-depth rationale for the FAQ, and there is still a lot of arguing. It makes me think that regardless of how well the Devs explain the rules, people will choose to not believe it cause it doesn't fit their genius idea of how to break the rules. Personally, I think that in order to make the rulebook absolutely clear to all it would be much larger than 1000 pages and no game company would even think about publishing it.

Xaratherus wrote:

Quandary wrote:

I think Sean (?) must have pulled the FAQ. I can't see it anymore

I still see the FAQ: Here.

OK, it's still there, I was just looking under 2WF, not Gear: Armor Spikes.

Which reinforces that per the FAQ, it's only discussing 2 Handed Weapon + Armor Spikes and Gauntlet, not UAS.

boldstar wrote:

all the crap about "secret rules" is bogus.

So it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether or not armor spikes requires a free hand to use generally? e.g. while wielding a Polearm for AoOs?

It makes no difference whether or not monks can bypass the FAQ not just while Flurrying but also outside of Flurry?
It makes no difference whether or not what you are holding in your hands affects how you can make attacks with solely UAS? (normal iteratives or 2wf uas+uas)
It makes no difference whether or not having your hands cut off affects the number of iterative attacks you can make?
The point is that if Paizo wants people to use the "secret rules" in preference to RAW, it can't expect to keep them secret any longer. But Paizo hasn't shared what the exact difference from RAW is, they haven't concretized what exact rules people should depend on playing by.

You completely miss my point. These "secret rules" are not game rules, they are the underlying precepts on which the game rules are devised. There is nothing secret about them. It is just the basic tenets that Paizo holds as how they will develop their game. Monopoly has structured rules. Monopoly does not have a book of rules for how they put together the rules.

I admit that I don't really care about the FAQ, as it was how I ruled things at my table anyway, but all the crap about "secret rules" is bogus. Any good game developers are going to have certain standards that are going to guide the creation of new rules or the clarification of old rules. They don't write them down because 1. No one wants a rule book with a 1000 more pages of rules that rule the rules, and 2. Most people who enjoy the game will trust the developers to balance the rules appropriately, and 3, we can always CHANGE WHAT WE WANT in our home games.
I understand if you don't agree with the ruling, but please stop with trying to find a secret cabal who is hiding the real rules from y'all (hey, that rhymed) and whose ultimate goal is to suck all the fun of RPGs out of the world. This just ain't that deep.

I've got the popcorn.

I just posted this on Thistle's blog. Probably will get cut. I just wanted you to know Creighton, that I will be buying at least one of your products because I feel the way you handled this was extremely professional. You didn't stoop to insulting the hard work or challenge the ethics of a competitor who probably "had it coming.". Thank you for being the grow up here.

"Not sure this will do any good, but here goes… I haven’t looked
at or reviewed any of your or Raging Swan’s material, so I can’t
speak to the quality of the products, but the fact that you would
accuse a competitor of unethical business practices in an open
forum and then become upset that said competitor would respond in
an open forum does not speak well of your business practices. In
addition, you also besmirched the quality of a competitor’s
products in an open forum. You stated that you would not post RS’
response as it felt like it was a glorified advert, but you have
taken the opportunity to show your layout and art in comparison to
theirs in order to show that your products are better. Feels a bit
like the old “Pepsi Challenge” adverts on TV. I honestly don’t have
a clue whether you have a legitimate gripe, but the way you
approached this makes me not want to spend money on your products.
You managed to alienate myself as a potential customer and, I would
bet, quite a few other people as well. This is sad, because I did
like the little bit I saw of your layout and art. I do spend a fair
amount of money on 3rd party products and might be missing out on
something good, but I will not spend money for a product from
someone I do not respect, and, right now, I am having a hard time
finding anything to respect about your participation in this
situation."

Before 3.0, I played in and GMed for large groups of 7+ players. I know there are a lot more options for players to do with their characters than in 1st and 2nd editions, but there are a few tricks I witnessed (and subsequently stole) to keep the game moving. please note that these are just suggestions and in no way are a statement of how everyone should run their game.
1. On a players initiative, they have 10 seconds to announce their actions. If they don't, they forfeit their action.
2. Roll to hit and damage dice simultaneously
3. Make sure before the game that every character sheet has pre-calculated attack, damage, saving throw, skill, etc. bonuses so no one is trying to add the numbers up.
4. Outside of game conversations must leave the table. If you are not back in time to declare your action, you forfeit your action.
5. Roll all attacks and damage for monsters simultaneously (using different colored dice for first attack, second, third, so on. Apply damage as the action would occur. Do this with players as well. Know what tactics the monsters will use prior to the encounter.
6. Pre-plan all wandering encounters so there are no last minute rumblings on your part.
7. Copy all monster sheets so you have them immediately on hand.
8. Allow a set number of rules "challenges" kinda like in football. I suggest one per player per four hours. if the player challenges the ruling, give them two minutes to make their case, then make your ruling. All rulings are final. Explain this clearly to the players before hand and stick to it so one rules lawyer doesn't take over the game. If a player tries to argue past that point, move on to the other players.
9. Write yourself notes on the main points of each potential role play conversation with an NPC. Don't worry about a script. Just wing it.
10. Give each player one "timeout" per four hours so they can deal with a tricky situation or look up an obscure tactic. Allow them 2 minutes to figure out what they want to do.
I know there are a lot more ideas I am forgetting right now. Do expect your sessions to run long (6+ hours). As far as how to beef up the AP encounters, I bet there are a lot of people more rules savvy that can help with that. I do believe that there is quite a bit more prep for a GM of a large group, but it will pay off.
I know some of these suggestions can seem harsh, but your goal is to keep the game going so that the majority of players are having fun. If you are consistent, the players will adapt and it will make the combats go by much faster. This gives the players a lot more time to role-play.
Finally, make sure the game is fun for you as well as the players. If you are bored or frustrated, it won't be as fun for the players.

In a Dark Sun campaign back in the mid 90s we had a player who had all of his equipment lost due to a fire trap. Later he found a ring of wishes and blurted out "I wish I had all my s$&t back!". All the players, who had been trying to coach him on what to say stopped talking and looked at the DM, who had the biggest grin I have ever seen. The character started swelling and eventually exploded, showering the other characters in a lifetime of feces.

Monks are liberal, socialist, godless killing beasts. Their disbelief fuels their Ki. BTW, Monks are overpowered killing machines that need to be nerfed.

Actually I think AMIB understands clearly Romney's point. What part of "...my job is not to worry..." about half the country seems unclear to you.

I am going to go the opposite of the OP. After a quick read through the first of SHS, I LOVED it. The intrigue was great in the beginning and the dungeon sections reminded me a lot of old Caves of Chaos fun. Without going into spoilers, three of the "heavies" in the dungeon section were hysterical in a very black comedy way, but still pretty darn Challenging. Gimmie more of that old time dungeoning with a Paizo feel. Vaughn, great job accomplishing what I think is most difficult: making an introductory module that rocks by itself and sets up the campaign. That takes serious chops.
One note, can we leave off the "lazy" comments. These people do put a lot of time and energy into their art. If you don't like something, fine, but don't challenge their work ethic. Under serious deadlines, Paizo consistently puts out superior work.

Guys, this isn't the freaking inquisition. We've all written less than stellarly worded posts before (and are probably more likely to do so when our computers helpfully decide to automatically delete products we purchase). It's obvious he was not trying to attack Paizo, just figure out what the heck happened.

Could you find it in your hearts to let the new guy work out his issue with the staff in peace?

This+1000.

Actually Thing, you are wrong. If congress had just raised the debt ceiling like they had done so many times before, without the hysteria, there would have been no reduction in our credit rating. Because the debt ceiling was held hostage by politics, it freaked people out, hence the reduction.

Step out of your close-minded group, then you'll see who's a minority. This is the first time I see someone not allowing a plant to be used for Entangle. Not realizing it can be done, sure. But specifically not allowing? Never.

Quote:

That is from under Aiming a Spell in the Area of Effect section. This explains more clearly why the plant idea and ImperatorK's concept is just wrong all around.

I don't see which part is even relevant here.

Ok, I don't think that using an alias is helping your argument IX. It is called using a sock puppet and makes you look like you have to be dishonest to make your point. Although I don't agree with your interpretation of entangle, I do think you have a right to believe how you want. Just please don't try to make it look like people agree with you when it is just your alias.

But there are no bards, rangers, or wizards in the OP's party...

Maybe it is my age showing, but I am really hating hearing the "rogue is obsolete" talk. Not sure if it is true or not, just hate hearing it. What about one of the squishier characters dipping a level of rogue? That should cover in-class skills.

Paladin got kicked by a mule and fell into a well and drowned.

Actually, I disagree with the whole assertion that SCOTUS claimed that the mandate was a tax. What they said is that is covered under the taxing power of congress. I believe that fines and penalties are also covered under this power.
As far as people freaking out about the mandate, I guess I am confused. All people who could afford insurance were already paying for everyone else anyway. Hospitals raise their prices on people who can pay to cover those who couldn't. Insurance companies increased premiums based on the increased costs. How is this different than what will happen under the ACA, except that there is a method to go after people who willingly do not carry healthcare who can afford it. For conservatives, this seems to me to be the kind of "go after the deadbeats" mentality that they are always espousing.
Finally, our president never called people who make 250,000 dollars a year the middle class. Please. If you don't want to be treated like a 4yr old, don't post out of context hyperbole that makes it sound like you can't think for yourself. Your other arguments were too well thought out (even if I disagree) to stoop to that kind of sillyness.

The ritual my group has had for nearly 15 years is "mystery beer." One person brings a beer in a plain brown bag. Whoever gets the first fumble of the night has to drink it. That person is required to bring the next session's mystery beer.

Also, i just want to say that whether you are willing to help others or not is not important to me. I have to believe that there are fewer people in the world with your viewpoint than the viewpoint that it is imperative that we help those who need help. If you, or your family ever do need help, I hope there are plenty of people willing to help.

Gendo...wow. I don't want to rail at you or call you or your outlook on life wrong. It makes me sad and makes me feel as though a whole bunch of people (including yourself) have let you down. I am glad that you are happy with your family. I am utterly confused, however, that a well-spoken adult that has made for himself a happy family life is so myopic about how choosing not to go to the doctor when you were younger for preventative care could have helped you deal with later health problems. It also amazes me that you are continuing this trend by not willing to go through prostate exams. Yes they are not fun (I am 42 and have had to go through my share) but if I can go through this 30 second procedure once a year and it eventually helps me deal with a health issue early enough to stay alive and enjoy my (hopefully) long life with my wife, I am willing to do it. I do not have insurance because I expect to get sick. I hope I am never sick. I have health insurance so that, if I am sick, my wife and family are not economically destroyed.

Maybe slightly off-point here, but the best thing I ever heard a teacher say was that "It is a child's responsibility to test boundaries and it is our responsibility, as adults, to show them how.". It feels like too many school systems are so politically hamstrung that they can't teach student that it is okay to think and question what they learn.

I think (unless I missed someone's post), that people are forgetting the biggest reason that longs words were used in 1st and 2nd edition games: almost all the magic weapons found were long swords. It's been a while but I believe the percentage was something like 75% in the old DMGs. Very few players created their own magic weapons for their group and so most groups relied upon taking a weapon prof. (remember the days when you had to pick a specific weapon to be proficient with?) that would result in a weapon found that would be magical.