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Sorry if this has already been a thing around here but it made me crack up:
http://vimeo.com/39114507
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When a PC rolls a knowledge check to find out more about a monster, how much info do you give them? The knowledge skill portion of the Core Rulebook is helpful but not conclusive. Do you reveal Damage Resistance? Spell resistance? Special powers? Approximate Hit dice? Or do you keep it vague?
I'm not sure I get it. To be honest, I've never really understood the Fey subtype - every explanation has always seemed to me an analogy of stereotypical elves from nearly every Hobbit inspired campaign setting: protectors of nature and the forest, "fey" as the dictionary definition, hidden peoples. What distinguishes them? The First World? Because the Elves of Golarion have their "First World" too - the gate in Kyonin leads to it. Fairies? Okay, but fairies don't scream "threat." I've tried to consider them as Brothers Grimm style Watchers In The Woods or the fairy tale trope of unknowable THINGS that are alien to our understanding - but that seems pretty close to the Outsider subtype. Help! I'm running a Falcon's Hollow campaign and Queen Syntira just seems like an elf! How do I make the fey different? EDIT: Thanks for putting up with all the questions!
Antonymous to the "AP's you would like to see in the future" thread I thought it would be fun to to explore AP's that might be cool but will NEVER happen due to difficulty, lack of interest, or *other* circumstances. Here are three* that I thought of, a trilogy*, if you will: 1. An adventure path where the party is split the ENTIRE TIME and only comes together in Part 6. (Ha ha, I'm making myself laugh over here!) 2. An adventure path where the players start at level 20 and LOSE levels until they're just a couple of level 1's - the BBEG is an angry mob of commoners. 3. AP set in Varisia...again.
4. A 6 Part AP set in one 20x20 room. One benefit as a player is that you could NEVER split the party! (Call it "4 Angry Players") 5. AP where players are monsters and PC's come and kill them and take their stuff. Some mean GM's might actually treat every game like this. :} 6. Two 6 part parallel running AP's where PC's play bad guys in one and good guys in the other and collide in an epic 260 page Part 7 linking the 2! 7. AP where players all start as children and between every part, 5 years pass. 8. An AP that takes place entirely underwater. 9. A time travel AP where the players have to fight their future selves, then past selves, then paradox selves, then future selves again...hold on...I lost where I was going with that. 10. An AP that is conveyed only through photographs and abstract artwork. Any more you REALLY wouldn't like to see? Any that you think would be rad but undoable? Any that are so silly or unrealistic that they'll never happen? Sound off. *False
There's nothing worse as a DM than being smack dab in the middle of a great roleplaying moment and having to hold up your hand and say: Wait, I have to look up the rules for that! What's worse, proceeding to flip through numerous books for 5-10 minutes until you give up and make a half-assed, hand waving ruling. So, here's a couple cinematic moments that if we can figure out how they work mechanically can be used in many situations: **
*How does this work? It's not grappling, it's not exactly combat, and it doesn't seem like a surprise round. Arg. (Side note: I've been a player in a moment like this and been on the end of the blade and felt cheated because it was clear the DM wanted this cinematic outcome so he decided that a sword would get held up to my throat without my character having any say in it.) **
*Grapple? Is it that simple? But the mechanics for grappling don't seem to line up. And I know that called shots are a problem, so if this raises your hackles, ignore the vitals part of the question and focus on the climbing. (PS. Grapple is STILL a problem, I know.) **
*Sleight of Hand check to see if bad guy notices the crossbow/wand under the table? Followed by an attack roll? Surprise round? Sense motive first? Aaaaaaghghghg! (Side note: this is for any moment where a character sucker punches another character.) **
(I know I'm asking a lot here as I imagine many responses will be: 3.5/Pathfinder rules weren't designed to incorporate this, move on. I've heard that response to many of my cinematic questions (not on these boards but from fellow DM's) but it's neither helpful or fun.) **
Thanks for putting up with a long post! And if any one has any other examples of great cinematic moments that are difficult to translate into the rules, please post them.
I'm constructing my vision of the Candlestone Caverns leading down into...THE MIDNIGHT MOUNTAINS.
How do they each feel about sexual relationships amongst gender and species. Obviously Cayden Caiiean doesn't care, only that you're having fun.
Others? Thoughts?
For the Buster Sword I would go with an Amiri style large greatsword, but how should it include slots for Materia? That opens up a huge can of worms am I right? I had a player once ask me if they could have materia and I said, "Buddy, if you can design a materia system that we can agree on, you've got my permission." Maybe the Buster Sword (sans materia) is used in numeria by barbarians hammering together scrap starship metals? For the Gunblade we definitely have to go to Alkenstar, but thinking about the mechanics of the gunblade, it doesn't actually shoot anything, it merely powers up the blade. So, maybe not Alkenstar? But they seem to be the only group of people that would even conceive of such a thing. It could also be alchemist style loads in the cylinder that when the trigger is pulled are jet spray syphoned into a gutter that instantly coats the blade? Are maybe I should just throw my hands up and say it's magical. Thoughts?
I know that art REALLY matters to me. It's a large reason I'm with Pathfinder and not anyone else, they consistently have great art across the board. There's a lot of art in Pathfinder books that I don't like whether it be to quality of artist or subject matter (eg. which spells to show (if it were up to me I'd like to see a representation of every spell!), but I like way more than I don't. That's more than I can say for WOTC with their recent D&D art. I LOVE some of the stuff they do and artists they choose (i.e. Steve Prescott, WAR) but there's a lot of subpar and unimaginative work. I can't say how many times have I seen the same "Sneaky Thief" in a D&D product and a completely revitalized, re-imagined rogue/assassin in Pathfinder (Mantis Assassin). Golems, goblins, misfits of all shapes get the PAIZO, PATHFINDER treatment. And I love it. When I look at a lot of the work out there (and sometimes in here too, I'll not be precious) I see mostly bad. And it saddens me because good art, or at least memorable art can bring a good product to great. -Jeremy
I had this thought tonight that I buy products from rebels like I'm funding some rebellion. I had this thought when I saw a preview for "Battleship: The Movie" (based on the popular board game where you say a number and your opponent agrees that you miss a lot). The preview says something like, "From the COMPANY that brought you Transformers..." Then: H A S B R O And I was like, NO. A COMPANY just tried to effin take credit for that. Like the OVERMIND manifested a product, brain designed to enslave young males. That actually may have happened... But that's beside the point; I realized Paizo is a modern manifesto, a thorn in the side of THE MAN. A group of people that have hijacked the American dream of license and improved a product so thoroughly and so without the creators consent. But it works. This is how fantastic modes are made. Modes of being. I should identify myself as a believer in "Pathfinder" as such a perfect middle ground for a game that was already legendary. A game that literally lets you take crazy mind adventures. Come on! That's TREASURE. And Paizo ripped D&D away from who owned it, drop kicked it into a wall to subdue it, molded it, renamed the SOB and spit shined it til Maguses fell out. I thought tonight, yes. Yes, Pathfinder is flawed. Yes, the whole mess of a genre is flawed. Yes, we must make concessions to strange, sweaty, fat people whose beards surprise us. Yes, there are psychos among us, that actually believe in Zon-Kuthon and would and could create a cult based on him, and skin themselves and it's on the news because the news would LOVE that. Yes, but there's so much beauty in the game. Even for the optimizers. Especially for them. This is all they've got. And the casuals, who barely know the rules but endeavor. For the oldsters, the true spelunkers, the sink hole stars. For the dark hearts, who love just this chance to be evil. For the manwomen, who are men but play women. They are so brave. Because they risk sex advances from their fellow PCs every session. For the DM's, the myriad of them, because they're all different but they're all so alike. So, a mode of being. Loving something so much you take it, break it, remake it. I guess. Fighting for a change in the hierarchy of PRODUCT land. I'll support Paizo until they become the establishment. Then I'll hate them too.
I'm an old school fan of Akira, Vampire Hunter D, Robot Carnival, Ninja Scroll, Berserk, Ghost in the Shell, Tank Police, Cowboy Bepop, etc. It seems to me there was a golden age (or silver age considering the amount of anime that came before these) that has come and gone. Am I wrong? It has been a long time since I've seen anything that has piqued my interest regarding very good adult anime films or series along the lines of the above. I look at Netflix's instant watch offering and find only derivative stuff that I've seen over and over or just plain low quality. Some things that I've tried and recently been OK with: Tekkinkonkreet, the New Evangelion films, and Samurai Champloo. But that's really all I can think of and even these were flawed. Let me put out there: I know that every single series and film I've mentioned is flawed as I feel that all anime is flawed. It's hard for me to name even the most classic series or film (i.e. Robotech, Fist of the North Star) that don't require caveats. One last thing to note: STUDIO GHIBLI is God. I wouldn't begin to put any of Miyasaki's masterpieces with any of the above just as I wouldn't put any classic Disney films with the above.; it's a different category in my book. -Jeremy 
It seems to me that if you opened a Gate, per the 9th level spell, into magma or water you would find yourself under a deluge of either, respectively. Yet I've never seen nor heard of this being done. Any experience with this? I'm running a red dragon sorcerer against my players this weekend and he has access to that spell and I don't see why he wouldn't employ the magma tactic, especially in a small space that would quickly fill up. Thoughts?
Dear Paizo, Please cancel my Pathfinder and Gamemastery module subscriptions. I'm in love with your company and all of your work but I just lost my job so I should probably concentrate on rent and feeding the kobolds first before rpg stufferoos. Thank you so much, and I promise I'll be back as soon as I get a job again, count on it. Love, Jeremy
Hi Guys, Is it okay if I use my G Ronin discount (from the sale) on back issues of Dungeon? Thanks for the clarification! Love, Hellacious (Jeremy)
THIS ART IS PHENOMENAL! I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT! It reminds me of Yoshitaki Amano's early Final Fantasy stuff. I LOVE IT!!!! Also the Lamia Ceoptra is incredible and seems to be in the same style as some of my favorite Korean artists. The art in this issue is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I'm sorry to gush so much, but I just want to see way more of this type of art. Art Director James Davis, if this was your doing, I bow to you. *BOW* *BOW* *BOW* PLEASE PAIZO, MORE OF THIS ART!!!!!! Love, Hellacious Huni
This thread is for all you PCs out there who are tired of rolling a 1 and failing. Or are tired of being told you have to roll a Search check to grab a coin purse off a dead thief's belt. This thread is for every PC who has ever tried to put some flavor in his fighting by describing his actions, only to be penalized by the DM with negative modifiers due to "not swinging the sword right." This thread is for every PC who tried to be creative and was told, "nope, that's not how we play D&D." So PCs: Cry out against the DM tyranny! Tell us your stories of bad DMing and how you wish it had been done right! PCs UNITE!!!!
IMO: Okay, if you've read any of my other threads you may know I hate playing under a DM who wants to make everything REAL. Conversely, I hate DMs that make my PC seem like a bumbling, mentally disabled dumbass (I know, that's a lot of redundant descriptors, that's how I feel). 1 as automatic failure is stupid. It is stupid. It makes the PCs afraid to do anything. ANYTHING! Not just fight the dragon, go ahead and be scared of that. Really, be my guest, sh*t your pants. You have good reason. But afraid to throw a vial of acid at a door? Or afraid to climb a ROPE?!??!? This friggin brings me back to Cyberpunk 2020 (terrible rules system) where my character tried to climb a ladder and kept falling off. A LADDER!!!!!! I wasn't injured, I wasn't in combat. I was JUST. CLIMBING. A LADDER. Same with the current D&D campaign. I've fallen more times than I can count. Want to dismount off your horse. Oops, you're a retard. Want to grab a weapon off of someone's belt while they fight? Oops, you punched them in the face. Want to swing your magic sword? Oops, rock buried in the dirt, magic sword broken, and the resulting magic explosion basically makes you its b*tch. I'm never letting this guy DM again.
What monster/s are you gonna use if any? Did any jump out at you as must haves? Can any as written get plugged directly into a current campaign? The Living Dungeon by Christine will definitely see play at my table as will the cloud golem. Both made my mind machines explode with possibilites. The lightning fey are a tight, clean fit for my Elemental Plane of Air campaign (aboard the good airship "Landkrist" (NO FLOAT STONES PLEASE)). I love those little bastards and their going to be real fun to run when the storm starts tossing the "Landkrist" and an army of lightning bolts descend across its ivory prow. STORM HO!!! HOLD FAST!!!!
Pathfinder 4 has such phenomenal art! I love it. Incredible job artists and Paizo for making such a fine product. At the rate the quality level of these books get going, I won't even be able to look directly at the Curse of the Crimson King AP without my eyes being burned out from so much beauty!
After all, the Pathfinder APs only take characters to Lvls 15-16. Is it possible that in the future we will see 17,18, or 19 level appropriate adventures for PCs? Food for thought: the reason I ask is because when I bought the Rise of the Runelords Item cards I noticed some...heavy hitting cards (most notably, *someone's* glaive). And I thought, why would I give this item card to the Pcs if they're never going to use it? I want to continue on with the players, let them stretch their legs a little after the Path. I personally hope high level mods are in the works.
Paizo, Could you please change the shipping type on this order to have the products sent out as soon as possible (meaning, not waiting for every single product in order to begin the shipping), some of these are Christmas presents and time is of the essence. I will pay all shipping that occurs, thank you so much again for such great service! -Jeremy
After lurking about on the "torture porn" thread in relation to Pathfinder #3, I began to think about the sister issue to the violence innate to a game of D&D (let's face it, you're killing a lot of stuff no matter the DM), and that issue is sex. I am a storyteller by trade and the first thing that I had to come to accept (through a glaze of religious, conservative upbringing) is that human life encompasses all spectrums and shades of morality and substance. And in order to write believable characters I had to understand that sex and the darkest parts of human nature are an integral part of being human. Lusting, wanting, having, and losing are what make deep characters. I am in love with the direction of the Pathfinder story driven campaign and appreciate the detail and direction that the creators have been giving as motivation for the characters - I would actually like to see much more of this. But that does mean we may start seeing some real human issues appear that maybe some who want to play a light hearted game aren't ready to deal with. A kind of "you got your peanut butter in my chocolate" situation, right? In light of the fact that James Jacobs has openly stated that Pathfinder #5 will deal with all seven deadly sins (including lust) and may have some sexual content I'm curious how the community feels about sex in their adventures as well as how you deal with it at the table. What's your thoughts?
Hey Hi! Very satisfied so far with the subscription to both Pathfinder and Gamemastery but I have one request: When I first signed up to the Gamemastery modules it asked me which module I would like to begin with and I chose J1: Entombed assuming that because it is chronologically before E1 I would receive E1: Carnival of Tears next. But now I show under my subscription that J2: Guardians is my next module. E1 was skipped! Is it at all possible to include the E1 module with the J1 and Pathfinder #4 shipment - I'd be willing to pay any extra shipping costs that would be incurred. Thanks again for such a great product backed by great service!
Recently, I've been taking some time to try to form prestige classes (and possibly a base class) to play as one of my favorite characters of all time: Trevor Belmont from Castlevania fame. I've been working on how to make a whip that isn't weak, so I've tossing around the idea for thicker, alchemical masterwork whips that don't just hit for subdual damage. Also, the class I've been working on is a Divine magic user/melee specialist with some interesting supernatural abilities trained in. All the abilities are based off of subweapons found in the games and they are as follows: Dagger Trick Throw - pinpoint dagger throwing precision and increase in range limit Holy Item Focus - can cause damage to evil and undead by displaying holy item Clock Stop - stops undead for a specific amount of rounds/uses per day Holy Water Trick - get special uses out of throwing holy water (can create an almost holy like alchemical fire that only damages undead) improvised thrown weapon - can throw any light weapon without penalty with same range as thrown dagger Whip Specialties - whip tricks that allow multiple toolbox uses for the whip (climbing bonus/swinging across chasms) What does everyone think? Any advice? 
I'm a smurf!
Hello, hello, I ran into some snags and would really appreciate any DMing advice on running a trap heavy adventure. The main problem that seems to be making the game unfun is the rogue having to roll trap searches down every hallway, at every door, and in every room. It's getting a little tedious and seems silly that the player is constantly having to stop the game to tell me he is rolling a trapsense roll (and am I as the DM supposed to be rolling that?). Please, tell me DMs, how do you handle trapsense? Thanks again for any help you can provide to make my game more fun.
I'm starting a new campaign set in a completely abandoned, lifeless plane and needed some ideas for monster, adventures, etc. The main thing I wanted to know is if anyone thinks any of the adventures in recent Dungeon magazines could be converted to this setting. Let me give a slight overwiew: Couple hundred years ago bad guy says, "You know what? I'm going to kill every living thing on this world including myself. None of us deserve this place." He succeeds. 200 years later some planeswalkers discover a completely abandoned place with silent cities, quiet young forests, regrowing from the destruction, deserted villages, and lots and lots of undead. So adventureres begin to filter through the portals in and set up frontier towns to reclaim the treasures that need only be plucked from this dead world. A settler mentality forms and the once dead plane is becoming a place of hope for travelers who wish to carve out a piece of land for their own. But unbeknownst to the planeswalkers who discovered this place and the adventurers who came after, there is still life hiding in the cracks, and it wants its world back. Any help you can give will be much appreciated!
I'm starting a new campaign set in a completely abandoned, dead plane and needed some ideas for monster, adventures, etc. The main thing I wanted to know is if anyone thinks any of the adventures in recent Dungeon magazines could be converted to this setting. Let me give a slight overwiew: Couple hundred years ago bad guy says, "You know what? I'm going to kill every living thing on this world including myself and my gods. None of us deserve this place." He succeeds. 200 years later some planeswalkers discover a completely empty, desolate world. Silent cities, wild young forests regrowing from the destruction. And undead, lots of undead. So adventures from all over begin filtering through portals, setting up frontier camps to reclaim all the lost treasures just waiting to be claimed. Lawlessness prevails and a settler mentality begins to take shape. This deadworld becomes a place of hopes and new beginnings for travelers looking to carve out a piece of land for themselves. But overlooked by the planeswalkers and the adventurers alike is that there is still life hiding in the cracks of this place, and it wants its world back. Any help you can give would be appreciated!
Sorry, forgot to write something. Have you ever had to compromise with your parents because they thought D&D was evil? What about your church? Has anyone ever judged you as an evil person for playing D&D?
The Town of Stillsquall, Tuesday night, Jason: I finish my cheese log and jump across the street so that I'm on top of the witch's house. DM: It's more of hut with a thatched roof, not very sturdy. Jason: Ok. I'll jump on top of it now. (rolls a 14) DM: Alright. You made it across the street but when you landed on top of the hut you broke through the thatch and landed on top of the witch. She takes (rolls) 6 points of subdual, knocking her out. Ting picked himself up off the ground and looked down at the knocked out witch. Ting laughs to himself and claps his hands together in victory. But then someone bangs on the door. It's Daisy's next door neighbor, Gam the Meat Trader. "Daisy, you all right? What was that?" *Ting speaking in faux female voice*
"Meteor? What in the...alright, well alright. grumble grumble witches and grumble..." Ting searches frantically for poison before anyone else can show up. (rolls terrible search check) DM: Wow, you can barely find your own @$$ with two hands and a flashlight much less poison. Jason: I'm gonna try again. (rolls bad) Ting keeps on getting fascinated by shiny lights that seem to sparkle through the hole in the roof, he just can't seem to pull himself to search the place. Jason: Can I take a ten? DM: Alright, I'll allow it. (I consult paper behind the screen even though I know he needs a twenty to find the loose boards in the floor) You find a have drinken bottle of something that could be a potion and a bunch of herbs, it looks like this witch is more into cooking then real witchery. Jason: Son of a - Ok, I'm gonna roll again. (rolls a 1) Ting, suddenly feeling the ill effects of the cheese log, begins to feel dizzy and during his search tips over one of the witch's concoctions sending a smell into the room that makes Ting feel sick to his stomach (Jason becomes nauseated and the witch wakes up.) "Alex is that you?" The witch said, groggily. "Um, yeah. It's me, Alex. Where's your poison?" (rolls bluff and Daisy rolls sense motive, Ting wins) "You want poison Alex? What fer? Your a cat, cats don't need poison," witch said and rolled over trying to stand up. "Bully cats! Bully cat's have been beating me up!" Ting says. (rolls bluff check Daisy rolls sense motive) "Oh, ok. Revenge is a dish best served cold you know..." The witch crawls over to a loose board and pulls out a small black bottle with a red skull on it. "Here you go Alex." Ting grabs the bottle and crawls out the window in haste eyeballing his new treasure. (end of Ting's mini mission- next mini mission to come)
Wouldn't it be neato if there were a series of articles each seperately based around one full level of the abyss, detailing each aspect and attribute of that level? Man-o-man, I have been itching for that ever since I read the hollow Planar Handbook (I say hollow because it was missing any semblance of crunch relating to any of the planes it mentioned). Does anybody have any ideas which levels would make great articles? |