gavin kerr's page

I think that the combat centric victory conditions can seem a bit of a "rinse and repeat" experience.

I have adapted several of the other adventure paths as well as writing one of my own and it is possible to incorporate "alternative" VCs; usually they are the most challenging and fun ones to play because of it.

Council of Thieves was particularly good for this; the second installment involves getting cast to put on a play - that really tested us when playing it out. Hopefully the re-boot will see an expansion in VCs as we prefer playing our homebrews to the official APs and without evolving properly, the whole thing will probably die which would be tragic.

Sean,

I don't think you will get answer. Personally I have stopped my subscription until I know what is happening with this. Small and probably meaningless gesture I know, however I refuse to buy a product which I have been encouraged to buy historically by a level of product support Paizo can't even be bothered to provide an update on.

Bumping this in the hope that Vic or someone else in Paizo might actually be able to give us an update on this.

Hannibal, if someone can post on the new game thread from Paizo, waxing lyrical about whet is yet to come in the new format, they can spare 1 minute to give us an update on where the new sheets are.

If the answer is we are focusing on the new game so don't expect anything until 2019, then tell us.

Hannibal - in your opinion they can wait - many of us who have bought product on the understanding that convention had been established that the sheets would follow will likely disagree - and all opinions are equally valid.

The big issue for me is there in no update however Paizo still find time to comment on other threads so the new game is preventing them from finding their way here.

Jim, you are missing the point, yes I want the sheets, yes I could make them myself if I had time, yes they are an added extra, however having established the principle of producing them, many purchase the decks expecting to have the sheets made available.

This plus the fact that no one is even taking five minutes to provide an update is what generates a "don't care" comment. If they can't even spare those five minutes then there must be an awful lot of fires to put out at Paizo or they don't care.

Guys,

This is getting a real issue as there have been so many decks issued without sheets. At least provide an update on where this is - radio silence suggests either you don't know or you don't care.

Can we get some kind of update on the timeline as to when character sheets will be available?

Vic,

We now have loads of new characters and no new character sheets. Obviously the end of February update was missed - when can we expect the sheets download to be updated?

Vic,

Any update on when the character sheets will be available?

We house ruled that you can only play blessings on checks at your own location. It makes the smothering of a key check with multiple blessings much more difficult to achieve.

Any update of when we can expect to get the character sheets for the latest class decks?

Doppelschwert,

This looks brilliant and can't wait to try it out.

I notice the new cards you made were done with Drive Thru. Is there any chance that you could make them public - I would prefer to buy them for the game than use paper versions or proxies.

Actually Tieflings do feature in the AP Council of Thieves.

Why not design the card and make it available to those who want it via Drive Thru?

Hi,

Initial thoughts on the above are that automatic proficiency in Heavy Armor doesn't feel right - either it should be an upgrade or not their at all, can't explain why.

Next the first power should only be useable if you haven't already revealed a weapon with the two handed trait for your combat check, additionally if she is a genuine swordmaster and equally proficient with weapons in both hands it might be better to add the Strength die. Wording something like; When you reveal a weapon for your combat check without the 2-Handed trait, you may discard(□ recharge)another weapon with the Sword trait and without the 2-handed trait, to add your Strength die to your check. I know it sounds rather convoluted but unless she is dual wielding with bastard swords then it maybe needs adjusting.

I like the last power on the city guard role very much, fits with the role well but not sure about Diplomacy skill on Strength. Would recharging a weapon to add your Strength skill to your Charisma or Diplomacy check not be more appropriate.

Hope these comments are useful.

gk.

My main observations are the +3 check box on Inspired Blade, give you the potential to have 10 skill boosts instead of the 9 recommended in the rules for building your own characters.

Secondly, I like the power to hand off an alchemical item however I think the "they can bury or recharge it" seems odd as they are not skilled in Alchemy. What about then drawing a random item with the Alchemical trait from the box instead?

Thirdly, can I suggest that you switch your Diplomacy and Perception boosts round given that Perception is an Investigator's best weapon.

One last option is to drop Charisma and gain Knowledge; you could then gain a power to use Perception in place of another skill to acquire Human allies or for before you at checks against Human banes.

Good build - I would be keen to try this guy out.

Which cards in particular are you referring to?

You can always have a go at adapting n adventure path that hasn't been slated for release yet.

We are currently play through AD5 of Carrion Crown. There are hundreds of cards from the three releases to date plus all the class decks.

We have ordered the thematic ones from Drive Thru that we have created -it has been a blast.

It also gives an insight into the issues Mike and co have trying to do this for us!

Yeah I am disappointed but it gives me more time to finish adapting Shattered Star!

gk

The feedback I got from Drive Thru was:

"We rolled out a card creator code update recently and it appears to
have messed up several aspects of the image processing and browsing.
We have tech working on a fix now and I hope to have a solution soon."

So they are on it, guess we just need to be patient.

gk

I can't wait to see this as we are half way through my effort at converting this AP to the card game.

I think only someone from Paizo can answer this so it might be worth asking Vic directly.

It could be the source material for part 4 does not allow community use due to ownership rights but I can't see that being the case for part 2.

Personally we have purchased all the adventure path and the class decks.

I think that the difficulty factor was much better in S&S than with RotR but I can understand that the Pirate theme could put many players off.

I am concerned that WotR was maybe not the best selection for the next AP - would have preferred Jade Regent or Council of Thieves.

I may suspend my subscription for that release - I am working on adapting Carrion Crown at the moment anyway and we can use the time to playtest it rather ehilst others are playing Wrath.

We will still purchase Class decks and Inconic miniatures during that time as they are released.

gk.

Yes, we got ours on the 27th December - I am in the UK.

gk

Luck can be a b**** - I have rolled 2d8 & 1d12 only needing to avoid 3 ones to succeed and still crashed.

That is bad luck not the scenario being difficult to overcome. The laws of probability will give you that result sometimes but much more likely you will be able to defeat strength 11 or 12 henchman at AD4 stage without even having to roll the dice. That is why these last scenarios are to eazeee - once you have beaten them you have basic locations to close, which barring some catastrophe or error in exploring without the card type you need to banish to close, is not AD4 challenge level.

gk

I hear what you say Calthaer, however a scenario in AD4 which has strength 12 henchman - strength 11 for the following one coupled with base set locations does not require lucky rolls or easy random cards to be classed as an easy scenario.

I don't even think skill played a part - the above makes for easy location closing at this level. The only area where luck did come into play was where in the location deck the henchman were. Some of the monsters were quite tough as well but the last two scenarios are a walk in the park compared to the first three.

I note there is no comment from our game designers yet - I would like to understand where they believe the play balance lies in these last two scenarios.

Last point - the "its to eazeee" brigade can actually be right!!!

gk

Even if basic set locations are being used you can add to the scenario card something along the lines of "before attempting to close a location, summon and defeat Cyclops Oracle" for instance.

Yes we may have had a ton of support (Lirianne BTW not Mirianne) but that was one card in the whole scenario that needed the full arsenal.

Strength 12 henchman are normal an adventure deck 2 problem not adventure deck 4.

I agree that our characters are probably stronger at this stage than in RotR, however, I think the adventure path is also harder than RotR at this point.

I think that is the reason we found this scenario so appalling - there was no challenge - we had 10 turns still left to go when we completed it.

gk

I appreciate your point Joshua but I lost my only weapon to his text, however with various support from Oloch, Feiya, Harsk, Alahazra, Mirianne plus the remaining cards in my hand, we were able to put plenty on the table even with a BotG on the discard pile.

I appreciate a solo magic user could be in trouble here but multiple groups should be able to take this guy down without to much problem.

Still don't think that the villan catching out an unwary spell caster or an unprepared weapon based character makes this scenario difficult.

It was a big let-down for us.

gk

Having just completed Red Rum I have to agree. The previous scenario was a challenge but an enjoyable one.

This had absolutely no challenge. The locations we are all from the basic set.

Even the reward was a con - won't say why as I don't want to spoil the surprise for others!

We had a quick look at the next scenario and it does seem to be much the same as Red Rum in terms of challenge.

I haven't played the rpg adventure yet so I don't know how it plays out but this is not racking up the pressure that we would expect.

Mike, any chance of enlightening us as to why the challenge of this adventure drops off so dramatically in the second half?

gk

If you are a fire mage then why not a power that adds 1d4 {}+1, []+2 to fire spells. Your fellow travellers would love to have you around when helping them with spells like fire sneeze and incendiary cloud.

Have you considered tying in to allies with the animal trait as a familiar in the same as wizards can?

gk

What race is your character? Sometimes powers can relate to their origin such as halflings or gnomes getting benefits when fighting giants.

Before and after encounter damage reductions would be typical of a Drow for instance.

If you had a Drow rogue then the Charisma die would be lower as they don't mix well.

A goblin wizard would probably be a fire focussed one whilst a Samsaran wizard can use their blood to heal others.

When homebrewing a character we decide on race and class so we can then use both elements to develop powers and stats.

I like the play with top card revealed power. We have a sorcerer with a Seer based role who does this. The power only works on their turn and the location deck is shuffled at then end of their turn to create a fogginess at the location for the other characters.

Hope these comments help.
gk

I think we need to bear in mind that Holy Candle does nothing different to Consecration or Envoke in terms of play experience.

We did house rule it that it is banished when played unless you have the Divine trait otherwise it plays as normal.

gk

We had a play through of RotR adding an extra bane and an extra boon to each location but maintaining the size of the blessings deck. Gave us some interesting experiences like adding an extra ally when taking on Black Magga!

gk

We have already created a Ratfolk Alchemist who has had a playthrough of RotR.

His stats are:

Str d6 (2) skill options
Dex d8 (3) skill options
Stealth +1
Con d4 (1) skill option
Int d12 (4) skill options
Craft +2
Wis d8 (3)skill options
Survival +1
Perception +2
Cha d4 (2)skill options

Card Hand

Weapon 1 (+2 options)
Spell 0 (+2 options)
Armor 1
Items 5 (+4 options)
Ally 3 (+2 options)
Blessing 5 (+1 option)

Some of the powers he has are:

-You are immune to any damage with the poison trait.
-You may automatically evade an encounter with any bane that has the animal trait.
-During a combat check, you may discard (or recharge) an item with the alchemcial trait, to roll a craft check and an additional 1d4 (1d6 with the poison trait)+1 as your combat check.

I did consider reducing the allies nad increasing the items but it did seem balanced when played through.

gk

I have to agree with you - in fact I think that there are too many armour slots on most of the characters.

I believe it is a slightly lazy way of filling up decks with stuff players generally don't want that doesn't take a lot of creative thinking or play testing.

We do have a homebrew character - a cavalier - who can banish armour to reduce damage to others at his location.

The only other homebrew character we have been able to create that would actually want armour is a Brawler who can use shields as a ranged weapon.

I think Paizo need to re-think the strategy for armour in the game.

Just my opinion of course.

gk.

Precisely what type of hardcore bane do you have in mind? I think that the OP difficulty is good - we have house ruled some hardcore difficulty in our latest playthrough of RotR. This also works well.

I am unsure what a hardcore bane looks like to you?

Without that knowledge how can we say this idea seems appropriate, over the top in terms of difficulty?

Are you talking a basic skeleton with a 14 check to defeat?

A siren that needs 14 to defeat?

Barriers that wipe out hands when you fail the check?

Share you thoughts on a hardcore bane.

gk

You can customize your play experience without Pazio printing extra cards

The suggestion earlier is one of our house rules - only one blessing can be played per check.

Having played through RotR more than once we upped the challange by shuffling in an extra bane and an extra boon to each location.

If nothing else it makes the villans and their henchman harder to find.

gk

Hi,

I received my order today however the Adventure Deck 2 actually had the cards for the add-on deck inside.

Can we arrange for store credit rather send a replacement and I can pick up a copy from my local store.

gk

Finally got mine today except the cards in AD2 are actually the add-on deck cards.

Couldn't make it up!!!

Credit where it's due, I got an e-mail from Sara apologizing for the delay in addressing the problems with the base set sent out and arranging for a replacement to be dispatched.

gk

Still nothing here either - just outside North London.

Giving up on the subscription process - going to pick up an add-on deck from local store as they appear more important to Paizo than subscribers and have it in stock.

Still no response either from CS regarding the poor quality boons in my base set - both printing and cutting problems.

Extremely disappointed with how poorly the whole S&S fiasco has been managed since it went off the rails at Gencon.

It really does feel subscribers are bottom of the pile in terms of resolution (order fulfillment and CS issues) as it would appear we are viewed as guaranteed income.

gk

Still waiting on mine - my local store will receive both add-on and AD2 plus the class decks this week. i am still waiting for allthese direct from Paizo.

Trying to convince myself - and my wife - that it is still worth keeping my subscription going.

Paizo have not even responded to my CS complaint about the quality of the printing and cutting of the boons on my S&S base set.

It's not been a good couple of months for this product which is a shame as it is a great game.

gk

I suspected us much with the perception pump.

Maybe a power making him proficient in weapons with the ranged trait would be appropriate then, possibly with an option to add an additional die or a damage bonus if it also possessed the knife trait.

gk

Your character didn't have those values at level 1 which is where you start with this game. You must have levelled up to the the stats quoted in the thread.

By using a blessing to scout a location deck and gaining a boost if you encounter bane can demonstrate an increased level of perception. If it is listed a a role power you effectively are levelling up to having a heightened perception level.

I understand what you are saying about the weapons. it can be difficult to translate them and armour to the card game. Some of our DYO characters have qualification on these options such as "not shields" or "1-handed only".He must be ery limited in melee weapon usage to avoid the +4 proficiency penalty.

Not being familiar with inquistor judgments, I bow to your superior knowledge, I just think discarding a card to prevent 2 damage is not very motivating. It might be worth putting the 2[]3 option before the elemental damage reduction ones - that definitely makes it more sexy.

I am not saying you are wrong - its your character. I am only making observations, which I assume is why you posted Henric in the first place.

gk

Looking at your rpg character, I would suggest dropping perception and survival as I don't see where they are coming from.

They also tend to be more druid, ranger, rogue type abilities. I would however increase divine to +3.

I think discarding a card to reduce damage by 2 []3 is not the best power - in reality the discard means you are only reducing it by 1 or 2. To put 5 power options into this is - I think - to much.

You could try something along the lines of discard [] recharge a blessing of pharasma to examine the top []2 cards of your adventure deck. If you reveal a bane with the undead trait you place it on top of the deck and encounter it with a +2 bonus to the check. Shuffling the remaining card ( if any) into the encounter deck.

Why is he not proficient with weapons - not even a power option?

One other suggestion would be to give him the option to recharge a blessing of pharasma to add a 1d6 to other character checks when fighting undead - drawing strength from his deity.

gk

My copy of the base set finally arrived.I wish it hadn't.

I was extremely disappointed with the abandonment of quality control in getting this product to me.

Firstly the box is damaged - the packaging is in perfect condition which means whoever packed the box in the shipping department must have seen the box was damaged and shipped it anyway.

Later my wife and I decided to open the cards and were shocked at the quality of the cards. The printing quality is absolutely awful with the spells in particular very faded - it looks like all colours have not been applied. Secondly they are badly cut off-centre with the black border missing completely on some edges. The items are not much better only slightly more colourful with some also cut badly.

Clearly this has been the price I am paying as a subscriber as a result of the Gencon problem. more time should have been taken to get this right than rush out a sub-quality product.

I appreciate that not everyone will have suffered this problem but that is no comfort to me when I look at what I got for $130 after paying for shipping and import charges.

The quality detracts so much from the game we have put it aside and left it un-played.

I know that the printing company have been defended earlier in this thread but if you could see what I received yesterday you would find it indefensible.

I am now trying to convince my self to stay with the game and trust that Paizo will resolve the problems with my set and the future decks still to be distributed.

gk

Klandestine,

Gameslore are a UK mail order company that currently have S&S base set in stock - its £44 shipped if you are still looking.

gk

Just got an e-mail advising my base set shipped today. This would be great if I hadn't contacted customer services to park it until the September shipment as I didn't want it without the add-on deck.

To makes things worse its still in my side cart!

Thanks Paizo

When we were putting together our Catfolk cleric we wanted to get a strong flavour of the race in the texts - a cat has nine lives, something mentioned in the ARG.

We decided on this power for her:

When you take at least 3 []2 damage, randomly recharge one of the cards discarded as damage.

Starting to playtest it now and looks pretty balanced so far.

We have created a Magus and have the effect you are looking for the other way round.

The wording we have used is: During a melee combat check, you may recharge a spell with the attack trait to add its spell trait and one of its bonus die to your melee check ([] or bury it to add all its bonus die to the check).

Essentially it makes the Magus a combat led character who augments their duels with magic rather than the other way round.

Hawkmoon,

Funny you should say that as that is one of the is one of the power enhancements Ember can take.

Alkatrazshock,

The problem with Stealth as opposed to Ranged is the lack of boon boosts in combat situations for the Stealth keyword. If you are carrying a couple of Blessing of Erastils or Blackmoon Rangers then you have some pretty powerful boosts.

How would you use Stealth effectively here and what assassin weapon types are you trying to limit your character to?

gk

We have our own homebrew assassin and played with several options to stop overpowering.

Result is combat is 1d4 with no skill bonus.
Ranged is dexerity +1 off a 1d10.

In addition she has the power as follows:

Ember (Character name) gains a +1 ranged bonus([]+2)for all combat checks made with a weapon with the knife trait. You may reveal a second weapon with the knife trait to add the weapon bonus to the check.

This makes here pretty deadly with knives but not that great with other weapons.

She also has the power to banish an item with the liquid trait to a 1d4 with the poison trait to her combat checks with a weapon with the knife trait. Suddenly all those annoying potions became wanted!

Just my tuppence worth.

gk