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We're currently in the middle of posting a trap based on each and every spell listed in the Core Rulebook. We're in the i's. Ever wanted a trap based on bless or consecration? Well, here it is.

If this is anything like the other kickstarters they've done, it will be well worth it. The art should be amazing as well.

For years we ran an event at KublaCon that was 24-32 players and had a PvP angle. The most popular format was to have the players be drow, and have a "scavenger hunt". We'd set up elaborate Dwarven Forge setups, and there would be 3-4 parts. The 1st part generally involved heavy role-playing and live NPC interaction. The 2nd part would involve a typical dungeon crawl to acquire items. We once had a third part that involved "tests". We had archery tests, trap tests, jousting, even a jeopardy style trivia game. The last part would then usually end up pitting the survivors against each other. It was always well received.

I wonder if the ()'s on page 419 are a typo, then.

thx

On page 417 of the Core Rulebook, it states that the DC for saving throws for magic traps is:

(DC 10 + spell level * 1.5) - so for a 4th level spell, we have DC 16 (10 + 4*1.5)

However, on page 419 we have:

for spell traps (DC 10 + spell level + ability mod). Assuming lowest ability mod, we need an Int of 14 (+2) to cast a 4th level spell, so that gives us a DC 16 (10 + 4 + 2)

But, for magic device traps, it says: DC is (10 +spell level) * 1.5. So, for the same 4th level spell we have DC 21 (10 + 4) * 1.5

So, when would the formula on page 417 apply?

I can support a product dedicated to traps of all types to confound my players with. As stated by blahpers, even if your trap is not the perfect one for a given situation, it may lead me (or others) to figure one out (and perhaps add to the collection?) Might I suggest consideration for a product of existing traps, for say your most popular system that you support, and then go with a yearly annual? Not every entry can be supported by art, but if you have good write ups for those entries that do not, I think it will be a fine product (digital or otherwise). It is a proven marketable product as demonstrated with the Grimtooth line.

I am currently considering your doors product as it may be something useful to add to my arsenal...

Thanks. We are adding an arctic encounter deck soon, and have something else in the works that I hope people will think is cool. Thanks for the feedback, I think I will put together a compendium pdf for sale.

Perhaps I should kickstarter an actual book that is trapped, too. 8-)

Ever thought of making a PDF compilation?

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Perhaps. I can tell you that in the not too distant future, you will be able to buy a subset of these traps with full color artwork. But I hadn't thought of a PDF. Perhaps I could do an annual yearly compilation.

thx

Trap-a-day is 3 years old today. This blog contains mostly Pathfinder compatible traps, although other systems are included. At last count, this includes 786 Pathfinder compatible traps!

And I was happy to contribute in a small way myself...

And, don't forget that there are lots of add-ons and room for more material. Oh, there are also drow... which, of course, should be enough for *anyone*!

MendedWall12 wrote:

Does anyone else find the trap rules horribly difficult to wade through and apply to actual trap design? The last time I read through them and tried to design a simple mechanical trap I had flashbacks of high school trigonometry and my complete ineptitude to not only understand the words coming out of my teacher's mouth, but to discern any practical application thereof. Is there a guide somewhere, or a 3PP book that dumbs down the language or makes the formulas for CR determination actually make sense? Sort of a Trap Designing for Dummies book? If there isn't, to all 3PP out there, I would pay handsomely for such a book. Also, just so we're clear, I don't want a book full of traps someone else designed. I want a book that actually makes it easier for me to design traps and know that they are mechanically balanced to work within the Pathfinder system.

Thanks for listening.

You let paizo's trap rules tell you how to make traps?

The traps were inside you all along. Come, let me show you the world.

http://trapaday.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the mention! I am the owner/writer at trapaday.

I would say there is no hard/fast rule to making traps. Just think of an effect you want. It can be any effect at all, perhaps something you saw in a movie or on TV. Decide if it is magical or mechanical and go from there.

In my mind, there are 2 general types of traps (killers and nuisances) Nuisances are meant to be triggered. They have minor, but annoying effects, and can be used in conjunction with encounters to "level the playing field". An example of a nuisance would be a trap that turns everything into difficult terrain just before an encounter with flying monsters, or a trap that does a temporary stat penalty.

Killer traps probably really shouldn't be triggered, and in most cases, should be obvious. The real fun in these traps is that you give the players a sense of accomplishment when they defeat something so deadly and insidious.

Shameless plug: I also write about traps at http://adventureaweek.com where I sometimes discuss how to use traps with an example. I have written on how you can use traps to set tone or to prepare the players for unusual encounters.

Anyway, thanks again for the mention!

Mo'Fo Cluck - Color Spray

It's supernatural, which means that it bypasses SR, however, the text says like Baleful Polymorph. Does SR apply to Punitive Transformation?

The one I'm hating is random object with not so good name, then in the text is says, "but <insert class/race here> call it <insert much better name here>"

Use the good name, people!

You can get it here.

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One a day, even!

http://www.trapaday.com

Every Thursday we will have exTRAPaganza - an over the top, Grimtooth style trap, and once a week, we should also have a trap that isn't 4E or Pathfinder.

Feedback welcome.

OK, for the life of me, I've downloaded the latest APG data set, and installed it via the tools->install data.

It's still red, and I can select it, but I can't load it. How do you load the APG dataset?

Just figured this out..

I had to unload all the datasets from the default Paizo set, unselect the character trait web enhancement (loaded by default), reload the Core book and then I could select the APG and move it over. Then I had to unload all and load all.

OK, for the life of me, I've downloaded the latest APG data set, and installed it via the tools->install data.

It's still red, and I can select it, but I can't load it. How do you load the APG dataset?

Pathfinder novels are 300-page mass market paperbacks.

The first two titles:

September: Winter Witch, by Elaine Cunningham.

October: Prince of Wolves, by Dave Gross.

Additional novels—including a new adventure from popular novelist Paul Kemp—will follow roughly every three months throughout 2011.

Subscription details will be announced in the near future.

PDFs will be available, and we're exploring other electronic publishing options. Look for more details on that in the coming months.

Both covers are mockups, and will change dramatically.

Do I see NovelSuperstar 2011?

I've submitted, although I had a crisis yesterday and came up with a new item, although in the end I submitted my original one. Since my next item is a good one, I'll use it next year.

First off, I'll be running a Pathfinder RPG at Con-Quest in Santa Clara (http://www.con-quest.com) over labor day. I'm not sure where to ask, but I would be more than happy to distribute stuff or take prize support for the Con.

thx

I think you could use a trap design for the first round as well. That's about the only other thing I can think of that would be able to accommodate writing restraints, show creativity and still show an understanding of the underlying mechanics of the game.

Many of the other suggestions wouldn't work.

Also, the one suggestion for making monsters and then using somebody else's stuff doesn't work for me, and here is why.

In the later rounds, you could be unfairly penalized or helped based on the quality of somebody else's work.

I don't suppose there will be an RPG superstar top 300 tag for the boards this year?

Actually, an RPGsuperstar tag for just entering... after all, we're all winners, right? And, doggone it, people like me.

It seems the contest has matured a bit to be more about polished game design, even at the earlier stages. Note I say "more about" not to imply there weren't polished items last year.

...

Full on, unjustified supposition.

Well, since the ultimate winner will be, essentially, a game designer, I'd say that this is true.

So based on the comments, I'm probably in the top 32... of rejected items. 8-)

jocundthejolly wrote:

I always assumed Word counted WPM, i.e., 5-letter word units. On a typing test, one 20 letter word would be the same as 4 5-letter words.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft Word counts spaces before and after letters, not the letters themselves.

To test, I just typed in "supercalifragilistic" and Word counted it as a single word. Likewise "supercalifragilistic-expialidocious," with a dash still counts as a single word. But, "a wee bit o' lint," is recorded as 5 words.

edit: ninja'd

wc -w for me.

emveedasher wrote:

Anyone thinking they wanted any kind of shot this year looked at the winning items from last year, and designed accordingly. So, it became more of a "design something that your audience (the judges) will like" rather than "design an item you (the contestant) thinks is cool".

I disagree with that actually and really I do not the think the two have to be mutually exclusive. If you are being creative under the presumption of what someone else may like, rather than what you like, I would think it is doomed. Really what the judges are asking for are correctness, clarity, and something original. There is no reason a cool item (to you) should not be all three. It is simply a matter of making it curt enough to fit in the 200 word limit, and elegant enough sell itself.

No, you can still be extremely creative, you just have some boundary conditions. Remember, the ultimate prize is a contract to write something specific. As a writer who wants to sell something, you always have to write to an audience. I'm just saying that if you ignore past advice and submit an item that, to you, is really cool, but falls under any of the myriad of "do not do this" suggestions that we saw last year, well... tell me how that works out for you. You can still make a cool item, just don't submit a beast-shaped coin that has augury powers and gives warriors the ability to cast magic missile.

I approached the contest this year from more of an engineering perspective. I have more complete specs and working examples, so I can better fashion an item that has a chance at winning.

It is a blast to review all the submissions. And it is funny how much you learn. Last year I started a "bad item stereotypes" thread. I dont want to do that again because I didnt use a good name. The name implied that those types of items are always bad. They arent. Its just that we kept seeing them over and over that year.

So this year I am just going to note some things I am seeing over and over that are holding some items back. These things arent always fatal. But they are areas needing improvement.

So here goes...

It seems to me that last year was a crap shoot. We were told to design a wondrous item. You ended up getting a huge variety of items.

Anyone thinking they wanted any kind of shot this year looked at the winning items from last year, and designed accordingly. So, it became more of a "design something that your audience (the judges) will like" rather than "design an item you (the contestant) thinks is cool".

I rejected several of my own ideas based on what passed last year. Given the feedback I'm seeing in this forum, I can see that, based on the items I had to submit, I chose wisely.

Clark Peterson wrote:

There was a pleasant lack of augury items this year.

You lucky bastard.

Well, this explains last year's entry...

Clark Peterson wrote:

This will be cause for disqualification in my view if not fixed.

"It's all fun and games until someone gets an eye poked out!"

Hmm... I always heard it as "It's all fun and games until someone loses a testicle".

Clark Peterson wrote:

OK, I'll start the list.

[
4. Just couldn’t resist the backstory, could ya? I don’t know how many times a perfectly good item was mucked up with a two or three sentence intro about how “item X was first created by [name of NPC] who had [insert problem], and blah blah blah.” Not fatal, but it shows horrid lack of restraint as a writer. Just design a good item. Wondrous items don’t have that stuff. Artifacts do. Usually not fatal, but it’s a red flag.

More to come.

I find the number 4 issue rather odd....

Let me comment on this as a GM and purchaser of books and supplements.

Unless the item is part of a bigger campaign setting, I'd rather not have a backstory, as it's almost certainly not going to fit into my campaign.

Artifacts, however, often need a story.

Thanks for the kind words, Clark. And Jason, I promised myself that "Why not me" will be my motto for the competition!

Good luck, everyone. We had to overcome our doubts and find confidence to sumbit. It's a valuable leson, wheter we move on or not.

I'm glad to participate.

Actually, believe it or not, being rejected on my item last year turned out ok for me. I won an award in one writing contest, and have been actively (well, as much as RL will allow) entering other contests and trying to get gaming related stuff published. Being rejected somehow got my butt in gear to do so.

So, just by entering, you win.

Todd Stewart wrote:

taig wrote:

I'm from the not so exotic land of North Carolina.

Exotic? Not really. But we have the best damn college basketball and best barbecue in the world. :)

I'll give you the college basketball, but I grew up in the Midwest, and you can't beat the barbecue there. Vinegar, not-FTW.

Other than Iowa pork, there's good food in the Midwest? 8)

I'm near Santa Cruz, California. But I miss good Mexican food, which you can't get in Northern CA.

Only the Top 32 were "officially" posted, but many people posted their entries themselves in the Losing Items thread.

I prefer not to think of them as losing, rather, they are "Judging Challenged".

Congrats to the Top 16. It would appear that it's time for me to put aside my dreams of RPG writing and concentrate on doing the best operations I can do. God, that sounds so sappy; I'll totally keep writing RPG material if only for my own use. Anxious to see hwat all of you guys come up with next.

Chad

Hey, don't give up. This is a decathalon, and not a single event.

You might still be the best adventure writer out there, so keep at it.

emveedasher wrote:

And I thought it was "Never engage in a land war in Asia".

He did specify writing advice!

OK, I won't write about land wars in Asia. Good enough?

And it came to mind several times while wading through these 32 entries.

"White space is your friend."

In other words, break up the text and use the layout of the words to your advantage. Don't make it hard to read and decode, spread it out and make it easier to follow.

Use white space to set apart the important points.

Especially in digital format, white space is free, and it can make a lot of difference in the readability of yor writing.

Several of the entries could have benefitted from a bit more white space. :-)

And I thought it was "Never engage in a land war in Asia".

Is there some place where all 32 entries are in one place and can be downloaded and read at my leisure?

This info is probably posted somewhere. There is just a lot of info in these boards to wade through so I am taking the slacker route and asking.

I'll bite (literally)

Renshu's Fortune Cookie

After reading several of these posts, I think my item fell into "The Food Item" (it was a fortune cookie) and it probably required too much work on the part of the GM to implement it. Additionally, I looked it over again and a mechanic that seemed obvious, well, maybe wasn't. 8-) Having said that, I'm using the item at KublaCon 2008.

I'll do better next year.

However, losing in the first round wasn't all bad. I pretty much knew that even if I made it to the 2nd round, I wasn't going any further. Countries are not my strong point, and given the time schedule, I doubt I would have created a good country.

So, by losing on Wednesday, I had time to prepare a short story for another contest (albeit a small one) and I actually got third place.

So, I've learned a lesson here. The only bad thing that can happen in these situations is to not try.

I look forward to entering next year.

Ok, we have our top 32. The list is compiled.

PS--26 were selected unanimously and each of us then had 2 "golden tickets" to select 2 items each to add to the top 32.

Thank you, now I"ve got the "Cause I've got a golden ticket" song running through my head.

Erik Mona wrote:

I agree with Clark. I wouldn't worry if you're within about 215 or so.

You be shocked by how many submissions we've received that had 400, 500, or even 700 words.

Ugh.

Yes, absolutely shocked! And slightly ashamed that I'm hoping it improves my odds....

Yeah, I prefer the Hemmingway approach anyway...

I know a lot of you are spending the holiday week worrying about the status of your RPG Superstar submission. We sympathize, believe me! We've got just under 250 items left to fully evaluate, and there is still plenty of room in the Top 32.

"wc -w" FTW!

Ok, that's fair. I wont be treating anyone the way Simon does. I think it is deplorable. We are all friends here and this is a friendly competition. We will judge the creation as a design work, not the creator as a person. I certainly have created my share of stinkers :) I dont want anyone to worry that their submission would be mocked or that they would be made fun of. That simply wont happen. We are here to find the best, not to make fun of the worst.

Who is Simon?

Here was one of my items...

Capsules of Summoning

These are small, multi-colored capsules. When you immerse them in water, they grow into a creature as per Summon Monster. The level is determined by the color of the capsule.

Alas, I just took a new job 1 week ago.

Oh well. Perhaps someday. I'd rather write adventures than code anyway.