chris manning's page

are these 4 new maps?

Is this also on FB FoundryVTT?

Deidril has said hes working on this next for his Helyx-Import PDF module, although i am already well into hand crafting it in Foundry and it wasnt so bad, all the Actors are already in the system, so its just the maps and the trimmings (also my first time running on Foundry, so a big learning curve for me)

congrats HMM on your 5th Nova, Idaho and Joshua on your 5th Star

Jason on GCP

Excellent insight, great to have you all on board.

as someone said above - any plans to tokenise pawn sets or bestiarys?

Benoit and the Gardencon team have been very accommodating for those of us that only speak pigeon French / German over the years, my only issue now is that it clashes with my wedding anniversary and my wife isnt a gamer :(

congratulations Joonas & Gary

very nice

here is a method you can use to resize the scenario maps

At Paizocon UK this weekend I was reminded of an old idea, an official 'Wall of Names' on the website in memory of those members of the organised play community that have sadly passed away. It would be nice way to remember those who are no longer with us.

4th part of the gloomspires / sefvenfingers tomb series

This happened in a module I ran a couple of weeks ago
PC - I use slumber on the boss
me - he fails the save and falls over
me - next up is henchman A - he moves to the boss and kicks him awake
PC on next turn - i slumber henchman A
me - henchman B moves to henchman A and kicks him awake - next..

Also put me in the camp of GM's who despair of spending hours prepping a scenario for a couple of power PC's to close it down flat, not by clever tactics, but by using the same relentless cheese in every encounter.

I recently ran an adventure where the mythic creature who can take 20 on initiative (for 35) went third in the round..

as above, glad to see its good news..

I usually just warn players that they are EXPECTED to have the materials to hand, NO-ONE either in meatspace or online has the time for rigorous audits. TBH unless your character is wildly off the curve, then i probably wont ever ask to see the books or pdf's- but i retain my right to do so.

The whole diplomacy 'speech' thing really irritates me - you never ask a player making a strength check to arm wrestle for a circumstance bonus - if you tell the GM what you want to do/say, and you have the rolls / skill to back that up, that should be enough without having to orate war and peace.

Often in scenarios I feel like saying "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!", backed up with a roll of 46, apply any penalty you like..

if you are looking to upscale the scenario maps
here is a tutorial i put together

I made the grinning pixie and the Black whisper
images

the players loved them

I didnt bother to do the voracious - might do if i run again though

So just download this - going through i noticed one thing

its not just a +2 bonus to a couple of skill checks. I have seen players with up to a dozen masterwork tools, automatically adding that bonus in EVERY situation without ever discussing it with the GM. Especially in combat..

Congratulations to all the new 5 Star's, especially Helen whos tireless work has helped to promote and grow Tarracon's Online offerings as well as her local club in Chester.

We are opening the doors of the Thames Valley Pathfinder Lodge on Sunday 15th January 2017

Back of Beyond pub
kings road
Reading

further details on our website

congratulations, especially to thor, who has waited a very long time for his qualifying game

I have run over 160 games, and played in nearly 200 and have never seen a chronicle filled out in the manner outlined in the guide.

BUT I appreciate that there is a system that we SHOULD all follow. I think GM Eazy-Earl' s solution is the most elegant, and would cover 99% of use cases.

<snip>

What if that opening paragraph under "Filling Out a Chronicle Sheet" on page 14 of the Guide were rewritten slightly to read something like this:

Quote:

Following is a 10-step walkthrough of how to fill out a Chronicle sheet at the end of a scenario. Refer to the sample Chronicle sheet to the right for the locations of specific elements. GMs should try to adhere to these steps whenever possible, but campaign leadership acknowledges that exceptions might be necessary in certain situations. Always fill out Chronicle sheets in pen, and write clearly and legibly at all times.

so i made a tutorial at last

my advice to everyone, is once you hit 4 stars, concentrate on getting up to ten specials, as the rest will just fall into place

1) if you finish a part and issue the chronicle, then they are no longer 'locked in'

2) yes they would have to buy the item

3) see this post

I'm after a cheeky favour from someone who's run Serpents Ire.
I'm running it at Paizocon UK in 5 weeks time, and fancy building some 3D terrain as my players love it.

some of my previous work
images
images
images

However, we dont yet have the scenario added to our downloads
I know there is a custom map, and i'm after a copy so i can start on the terrain.

congratulations

1) print the scenario (single sided-more on this later)
2) read the intro, summary & conclusion
3) start to read through the scenario, highlighting DC's, NPC names & important info
4) make notes on the facing blank pages for stuff you might need to look up or refer to
5) get the stat blocks from PFS prep if they are available
6) read the GM chat on the forums if available
7) reread the stat blocks highlighting feats, SR and other easily overlooked info - calculating things like power attack and smite etc
8) if you dont have spell cheat sheets, use herolab to create them
9) glue the stat block to the blank facing pages
10) print tactical maps (saves page flipping), handouts etc
11) print off the NPC & other pictures from the scenario (i make face cards now using a blank template)
12) gather any minis, and print any pawns i need (including custom ones)
13) read the intro, summary & conclusion AGAIN
14) make any terrain / scenery needed
15) read the summary & conclusion AGAIN just before running

amazing trophy presented to me by VC Chris Brockley-Blatt

congratulations to everyone, see you all on the island...

Ranged Weapons and Ammunition core rulebook p468

The enhancement bonus from a ranged weapon does not stack with the enhancement bonus from ammunition. Only the higher of the two enhancement bonuses applies.

Bane core rulebook p469

Bane: A bane weapon excels against certain foes. Against a designated foe, the weapon’s enhancement bonus is +2 better than its actual bonus. It also deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against the foe.

example

as the +5 from the bow is the higher bonus it applies as per quote above

the arrow will do 1d8+2d6+5

When a +1 human bane arrow and a +2 flaming bow launches at a human

actually the arrow (against a human) is +3 (which beats the +2 from the bow) , and hits for 1d8 (assuming longbow) + str (if composite) + 2d6+3 (bane) + 1d6 (fire)

also there are some good custom maps here
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=28366

i'd love to see some kind of 'web enhancement' for modules like this with higher res maps

More GM rewards?

i have run well over 100 society games, and in that time i have amassed so many GM boons that I'm now actively giving them away, and I've stopped taking GM credit as I'd rather play my characters through their levels.

I don't GM for the rewards, I GM because I enjoy it.

and the folio lasts fresh as a daisy for the whole of a 5 day con, unlike a single T-shirt

I try to keep to 4 hours, this is helped by extra GM prep such as

1) drawing or printing maps ahead of time
2) sorting out minis ahead of time
3) skipping optional encounters
4) calling fights when its obvious the PC's have won
5) running the initiative myself
6) keeping players focussed, pushing them along if necessary
7) make notes on ANY unusual or complicated rules, mechanics etc
8) make player handouts and trackers for mechanics
9) use average HP (5.5) for CLW wands out of combat
10) partly prefilled chronicles

Grr - ninja'd

as the GM you often want to sent a descriptive message to the chat box (eg for box text etc) that will stand out

/desc the Venture captain leaps on the table, spilling nearby drinks!

you can even send images to the chat (use sparingly !)

/desc [image](http://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9280-DrowMatro n_120.jpeg)

i'm surprised some enterprising 3rd party hasn't marketed coloured bases yet - although my players just point and go 'that one' despite me using various coloured marking systems.

well put rob - congrats Benoît

I had a great time (as usual) massive thanks to Dave, Rob, Pete, Chris & Tonya for their superb organising, Mike Brock for the support and T-shirt and all my players and GM's. Special mention for Tom Mannering, was great to meet you and glad you enjoyed the game.

Chris

gridding finished - and a couple of homemade monsters...

Piccys.

the OP says it was a 4 player table, for this scenario, the 4 player adjustment removes the 2nd minion from this encounter.

more photos of my throne room diorama

now with pillars and paint

perspective view

i just keep a tally of the arrows that i fire (hit and miss), unless theres a compelling reason to not recover them, i just say i recovered 50% of those that missed

in LFR locally they used to have replay days to power level characters - which involved just the combats from 6+ modules as everyone had played them so many times that the plot/story was irrelevant. This is why per character replays dont work.

I just this week played 0-04 frozen fingers of midnight having originally GM'd it in August 2008 at UK Gencon, and i still remembered most of the plot - the game was good, but sitting on my hands through a replay can be frustrating.

this wording change is even more ambiguous now

Average Party Level

In order to determine which subtier a mixed-level group
of PCs should play in, you must determine the group’s
average party level (APL). You should always round
this number down. In addition, because encounters
are designed with four players in mind, if there are
six or more players at the table, add +1 to the APL. For
example, if a table consists of six players, two of whom
have 4th-level characters and four of whom have 5th-level
characters, the group’s APL is 6th (divide 28 total levels by
six players, round up, and add +1 to the final result).