Amiri

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Organized Play Member. 167 posts (215 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 3 Organized Play characters. 2 aliases.


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Male Human/Dwarf Historian 3/Game Designer 1

That's a bummer dude but you gotta take care of your real life stuff!

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Male Human/Dwarf Historian 3/Game Designer 1

"Heading for Tasch seems like the best course of action. Let's procure a ride and head out.

Does Met know of a good local place to find a ride?
Culture: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

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Male Human/Dwarf Historian 3/Game Designer 1

Hey, sorry for the delay but I got distracted by State of Decay 2 and forgot to check FF for a few days!

I'm going to use the solarian pre-gen and just change the name and theme.

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Charabdos, The Tidal King wrote:
5e/Arcanist style casting is the best thing that ever happened to Vancian casting.

I really enjoy it, playing a wizard is really fun in 5e.

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Fnipernackle wrote:
Will your weapon proficiencies be based off where you are from? I found it was ridiculous for my character from Osirion being more proficient with a longsword than a khopesh.

I image that would be a possibility in PF2. In the Know Direction podcast Erik and Logan talked a bit about ancestry and mentioned doing various human ethnicities (or at least the possibility thereof) which could easily have gear proficiencies like elves or dwarves do now. And even if they don't start with them as a base, ancestry feats may allow that as well.

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glass wrote:
...which makes it all the stranger that they eventually decided to do away with it in 5e.

They certainly modified it, in that some classes still prepare certain spells each day but have more flexibility in what spells they choose to cast, but I think it's still Vancian at it's core. But even just that extra flexibility plays out differently, and I don't think it actually helps in the martial vs. caster "arms race." They have given more martial classes more tools, but I know that even my paladin can't do squat without her weapon, while the sorcerer in the group is a weapon. All he has to do is polymorph and the rest of us can pretty much take a smoke break.

"JRutterbush" wrote:
That doesn't make it a good system.

I'm not sure if it is or isn't a good system, or if having it is good or bad for martial and caster balance. What I do know is that it is a core part of the D&D genealogy, just like levels, classes, or hit points, all of which have been around since 1974 and aren't likely to go away. They might change some to reflect changing player attitudes or styles of play, but they're part of what makes D&D, and Pathfinder, D&D and Pathfinder.

I'm just saying don't get your hopes up.

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Zaister wrote:
I'm wondering, will Pathfinder Second Edition adventures still assume a party of four characters, or is that changing?

That's a good question. PFS scenarios assume 6 players, with rules for scaling encounters down to 4 players, which (as I understand it) is a relatively newer decision, but I also think that has more to do with the ratio of players to GMs in PFS than anything else.

I'd be interested in seeing how this goes, as I'm not sure where the four player assumption came from, since before 3e, D&D generally assumed bigger parties.

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JRutterbush wrote:
I'll see Vancian magic die one of these days.

I don't remember where I read it, I think it was one of the designers on D&D 5e in an interview or something, but somebody once pointed out that Vancian magic is pretty essential to what makes D&D, well, D&D. Nobody else has a system of magic like that.

Of course, Pathfinder isn't D&D, and isn't necessarily beholden to those same traditions, but it is in the D&D genealogy, and as such I think Vancian magic feels "right" for it. Plus, removing it would require rebuilding the magic system from the ground up in order to keep it even remotely balanced with martial classes.

Not that I necessarily love Vancian magic, it took me over 20 years to finally accept it, namely after I actually read the first two books in the Dying Earth series. While D&D and Pathfinder never really explained it in a meaningful way, Vance's description, that spells are essentially so complex that you have to do all the maths first, then basically just keep the solution to the formula in your head until you cast it, makes a lot of sense to me.

Actually, having a better description, narratively, of how magic works might be a step in the right direction. Even in the 5e days of "Vancian magic is as D&D as classes and levels" it still hasn't been explained in a way that people who haven't read a lesser-known author can easily grok.

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As with Pathfinder First Edition, Pathfinder 2e will be Open Game License (OGL). PF was never d20, it was always OGL, because d20 had more requirements (like not allowing publishers to explain how experience works) that forced customers to buy the core books from WotC.

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Jezalane Ki Nightfalcon wrote:
My biggest concern is in reference to the use of shields. As I understand it, it takes one of your actions to activate your shield, if you don't activate it, then you don't get the AC bonus. The problem is that this makes shield use another variable that the GM has to keep track of every round. Nothing slows down a combat more than the GM having to check once again on a player AC.

From how it sounded on the Glass Cannon podcast, the shield doesn't actually add to the character's AC, but instead reduces the damage from an attack, based on the hardness of the shield. It may still have an AC effect, that didn't come up in the podcast. But having the shield "just" reduce damage, and require active use to do so, makes a lot of sense when we think about how shields actually work in real life, and I think makes them more interesting as well.

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Greylurker wrote:
Also how is this going to interact with Still and Silent metamagic (or eschew materials)

The obvious idea that comes to mind is that they simply reduce the number of actions taken to cast a spell. Got Silent Spell and a V, S spell to cast? BAM, that's only one action now!

And as Subparhiggins mentioned, I too like this idea, as it brings the complexity of spells into more mechanical terms. Especially since actually reading some of Vance's Dying Earth stories, "fire and forget" Vancian magic makes more "sense" to me, and I actually like it a lot more than I did as a youngun.

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Igwilly wrote:

I'm so excited about this!

I've liked Pathfinder from the time I've read, but I felt it was too troublesome to DM for, so I went elsewhere.
However, that may be changing right now. I'll be happy to buy the new edition.
Just a question: do the designers read the suggestions given in the forums, or otherwise know about them?

I get that, I absolutely love Pathfinder, and Golarion is my favorite RPG setting, but Pathfinder can get... crunchy, and as current there are so many abilities and classes and archetypes and etc. etc. That it can be pretty overwhelming. This is part of why I like D&D 5e as well, because (for me at least) it's a little easier to run (especially with less prep time). The sense that I'm getting from 2e so far is that it will be more streamlined and easier to run and prep (monster design, for example, seems to be taking a page from Starfinder, which I think it great), but still retain a lot of the fiddly options for characters, albeit somewhat truncated at first because we'll only have the core book for some amount of time. It's pretty exciting.

As to the Paizo team seeing what's on the forums, they tend to be all over the forms, and pretty responsive, so I imagine they'll see most of what gets said (the good and the bad) and I'm sure some of it will be taken into consideration. When the actual playtest hits though, that's when we'll really have a chance to get our opinions across. I'm looking forward to it!

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The Dandy Lion wrote:
Though now, I realize, I am going to have a lot of difficulty wrapping my head around a system without the 5ft step.

I think this is what was meant by a guarded step, which is the term used in Starfinder for a 5 foot movement which doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity.

In Starfinder this is a movement action, whereas in Pathfinder 1e it occupied that nebulous "other" slot, in that it wasn't actually a move action, but prevented you from taking a move action. As a result, the guarded step of Starfinder (and, presumably Pathfinder 2e) is two sentences long, instead of the four paragraphs of the 5-foot step in Pathfinder 1e.

So long story short, you should still be able to make a one square movement without provoking an AoO, but how it will interact with other actions remains to be seen.

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Thanks for all the comments! These are really great suggestions and have given me a lot to think about.

Are you ready for the big twist? I've already started running this campaign and I've hit a wall! (Surprising, I'm sure.)

So I created a group called the Oracle Initiative, which is kind of part Starfleet and part Andromeda Initiative (from Mass Effect: Andromeda) and as members of this group, the PCs are exploring a star system in the Forbidden Zone, where a Drift beacon has suddenly become active. At this point, they've discovered an ancient derelict ship and a sort of post-apocalyptic culture on one of the planets. The ship, and the ruins in which this culture exists, were built by a mysterious culture called the Ba'ib who, according to legend, either created the races on the planet or brought them there, and defeated some force called only The Dominator. Also, the Aspis Consortium has shown up and been very dismissive of the OI but not had a chance to do anything yet.

I set up this star system to be a sort of foyer for the Zone, which I imagine is connected by a series of ancient point-to-point FTL gates. The Ba'ib (who are probably extinct) closed the gate in this system on their end and hid it (possibly in the system's Pluto analogue) and then basically died out. That leaves a handful of races mostly living in the ruins of an old arcology built by the Ba'ib, as well as sme in a mysterious "monastery" on the other side of the planet, which was likely not built by the Ba'ib and is probably weird and alien in design.

I've gotten a lot of great feedback from my players, and what this campaign needs is a villain(s), and a storyline. I realized too late that I had sketched out an interesting setting, but not really a plot for a campaign, and it is in developing that plot that I've really hit the wall, creatively. I've got some time to work on it before we can play again, which is why I came here to crowdsource some ideas. I think that having a grasp on the why of the Zone would really help me to develop a campaign plot that involves said Zone.

So again, thanks for all the suggestions, and any other ideas or thoughts on the corner I've written myself into, would be much appreciated!

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The detective who is really good at their job, but also kind of insufferable about it, and can't not smart off to their superiors.

The bumbling cop who is kind of a savant at maths or something, but isn't very personable or at all useful in the field.

A cop who grew up on the "streets" of the station and legitimately wants to make things better for the people still living there, but has a hard time connecting with them any more.

A cop who loves what they do but has a (romantic) partner that hates how they have to put themselves in danger, and so they feel obliged to study law or find some other way to get off the force and move up in the world.

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I had this idea to set a campaign in an area of space somewhere in the Vast which is called "The Forbidden Zone." It's been on all the charts since the end of the Gap but nobody know who forbade it or why it's called that. Now, there's a chance to go and explore the Zone because a drift beacon was found there.

But there's a big catch: I can't figure out why the Zone is Forbidden, or Who Forbade it. I've been thinking "maybe there are mind flayers there," but I don't know why or if that's even a good idea, or if a previously unknown race of psychic monsters is really worth forbidding a zone, especially since I'd like to avoid a "just another Swarm" situation.

So... any ideas?

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Nothing particular at the moment, but I'll keep an eye on the collection going forward!

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This is one of my favorite albums, so I'm glad to see somebody is borrowing from it!

As for the Tunnel of Light, maybe saves vs. blindness or dazed? The longer they spend in the tunnel, the harder the saves get, and maybe there is some way to shorten the distance. Mechanically this could be skill checks, or it could be them coming to grips with something from their past or the like in order to shorten the tunnel. Could be a cool RP opportunity.

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I'm prepping for a campaign and working on NPCS and such, so this will be helpful for me going forward. Thanks!

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Wes once sent me a very nice rejection letter for a job at Paizo for which I was wholy unqualified, and I've gotten a lot of rejection letters (even from Paizo), so I know a thing or two. In our few brief interactions via Twitter or even briefer interactions at PaizoCon he's always been super cool. I still haven't read that first novel he mentioned, but I least I got him to sign the back of my iPad. Wes will always be one of the reasons I love Paizo and Pathfinder, even when he's gone off to other adventures (which I assume will involve vampires to some extent), but it will admittedly be weird for a bit.

Best of luck with everything that comes next or afterward Wes!

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Saw this. It seems pretty cool, though there isn't much information yet.

I thought Obsidian had the license to do video games based on PF though?

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This is a really good question, as I've been wondering the same thing.

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BretI wrote:

There is no such thing as too many Wuxia films.

Unfortunately, there is such a thing as too little time to watch them all!

I wholeheartedly agree! Imagine how pumped I was when I got to write a teahouse brawl for Paizo.

Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:

I finally got my downloads!

The little gnome stops shaking on the verge of explosion, and cuddles the quests up close. "Welcome, new friends! We will be awesome together!"

I'm so glad people are excited for this product! I hope you enjoy it!

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Somebody give me a better job so I can buy all the Starfinder things. Like, I want Paizo to take my money, I just don't have that much to give!

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Hooray! More opportunities to write for Paizo (maybe)!

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I just wanted to take a moment and thank all the awesome women who have helped make Pathfinder and Paizo great! Whether you work at Paizo, freelance, or just play their games, you're helping to make Pathfinder worth playing!

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I wrote my master's thesis on fanzines, and I can say that Wayfinder has more content and is of higher quality than those that I read (not that they were bad, mind you), and has been coming out consistently for a long time now. That's a ton of work, which for a great many fanzines is, traditionally, pretty much impossible to maintain. That Wayfinder has made it this far before paring down is super impressive.

Paring down is a good call, because historically, the alternative is usually shuttering the zine, and that would be a huge loss for the community. I'm looking forward to contributing to and editing future issues!

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Name: Rögnvald Lebedivich
Race: Half-Orc
Class/Level: Slayer 2/Rogue 1
Adventure: The Snows of Summer
Location: The Pale Tower, second floor
The Gory Details: While going toe-to-toe with a large Captain Hestrig Orlov, he got jumped form behind by Gardhek the doppleganger. Technically, he was only dropped to -15 of -19, but the player decided he was dead and started working on a ratfolk rogue to replace him.

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Captain Phoenix wrote:

Rising Phoenix Games is looking for freelance writers.

Project Length: 3,750 words
Pay Rate: A 25% cut of sales.
Additional details: Rising Phoenix Games is looking for writers to produce solo and 1-on-1, choose-your-own-adventure style adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons 5e ruleset. Excellent examples can be found in the D&D 4e Beginners Box and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginners Box. The adventure should be tailored to a Cleric or Fighter of level 1 to 3 and should scale appropriately. Familiarity with Twine is recommended, but not essential.
750 words of the project are reserved for extending the adventure (such as adding random encounter tables, or modifying the game if played at night, etc).
Please send a 200~300 word pitch and a writing sample to the email address below.
We are looking for 3 writers for this assignment.
Respond to: contact@risingphoenixgames.com
Respond by: February 17th, 2017
Assignment Deadline: To be discussed. We'd like to release 1 adventure every 2 months beginning early April.

This sounds pretty interesting. Do you want the pitches to address whether the adventure would be solo or 1-on-1, or is that a decision that will come along later in development?

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Sorry I didn't post again sooner, but work stuff got in the way. Don't wait up on me, I'm going to withdraw myself from recruitment, local games and work and life are going to keep me from posting enough anyway. Good luck though! Have fun stealing the mask!

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I made a human (variant) Wizard (Diviner) 3, named Esvele "Tinks" Shemov but I'll have to post her tomorrow, since the Paizo boards decided to crash just as I clicked the preview button and I lost an hour of work ;/

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Awesome! I'll work on a character tonight!

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It looks amazing, can't wait to read the stuff I didn't have a hand in editing or proofing! Really proud to be involved in this issue!

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This sounds super cool, and I'd love to play if there's room. Not sure what I'd want to play yet, but I can come up with something pretty quickly if you want me to join!

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Pretty stoked to see myself up there as a writer! No spoilers but this was super fun to write :)

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Just thought I'd drop a line here and let people know that I just published a new game with Fat Goblin Games called vs. Moon Men! It uses the vs. M Engine designed by Philip J. Reed and pits the players against alien invaders from the Moon in an alternate 1970 (they didn't take kindly to the Apollo 11 mission)!

It was really fun to write and we're trying to get the word out, so check it out here if you're interested! If it sells well, we've got a whole bunch of ideas for more content to publish over 2017 and maybe beyond!

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How convenient that I start running Reign of Winter on the 29th!

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I ended up printing the adventure portion out 2 pages to a sheet (which I used to do with journal articles back in grad school) so I have it at the table and have ample space for notes. Going forward though, I'll probably look for a newer copy of Acrobat and chase down some of the other things folks have suggested.

Thanks all!

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looks like maybe my printer just doesn't have such an option. I've been all through the options for the printer and there's nothing useful. Guess I'll just have to deal with it. I've got plenty of toner (I think, the printer can't actually communicate how much toner it has any more).

Thanks for the help everybody!

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Thanks for the advice. Azothath, are you familiar with Acrobat for CS6? Because I can't find any options for "draft" anywhere.

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Does anyone have experience printing out Paizo PDFs, specifically APs? I'm going to be running Reign of Winter and, well, finding volume 67 in print is next to impossible (for a reasonably price anyway) so I bought the PDF and I want to print it out. I was wondering if anybody had any pointers on how to do that without using so much toner. For one, I'm printing in B&W and, and while I'm leaning toward two pages to a sheet to save some space (and I'm only printing the adventure itself for now), if I could reduce the amount of toner put on the page (my printer's fuser can be finicky) that would be great.

I prefer physical products for the table but, alas, that's not in the cards here, so if anybody who makes extensive use of the PDFs has any pointers, they'd be more than welcome!

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This book actually includes my first monster design, but since we all had the opportunity to give each other comments, I'm pretty confident that she came out awesome! It was a blast to work on and I'm proud of this product and my small part in it!

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I had a lot of fun working on this book, and I'm honored to have been included with so many other cool folks!

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Wayfinder #17 could go super meta with it:

What if the Pathfinder Society held a convention in Absalom? What kinds of panels would there be? What kind of merch would you find in the shop there? What kind of organized chaos could Pathfinders hold in order to blow off steam?

In universe Pathfinder fanzines. Just saying.

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Congrats to everybody who got in! Anybody who didn't, keep at it!

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Timitius wrote:

Wayfinder #3 was Absalom.

Wayfinder #1, 5, and pretty much 7 were Varisa heavy.

I am not big on repeats for themes.....but we'll come up with something special for all the 10 yr marks, for sure.

Tim

Whoops, my bad! Forgot about the Absalom issue, which now I'm going to go read soon.

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JamesCooke wrote:
Alternatively: "Occult Goblins of Tian Xia".

Yes.

And somebody mentioned Absalom, which would also be awesome. I'm running a campaign set there now which does't show much intention of leaving the city any time soon.

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Jeremy Clements wrote:

A "Goblin Edition" would be cool!

Personally, I would love to see more on Tian Xia, and/or more on the new Occult book! These two are just begging to be combined into some interesting stuff!

Goblins would be fun, as would occult, but I would love to see an Tian Xia issue, since it's a whole continent that doesn't get very much love. Jalmeray would be awesome too. But sticking with the Inner Sea, I absolutely love Andoran.

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Timitius wrote:
I just want to be clear about this....I've had many authors submit art with their submissions, and be incredibly disappointed (and upset) that I didn't use their art piece. One even threatened to revoke his article if I didn't use the art! I don't like being backed into a corner, folks.

In the interest of getting on with my to-do list, I've decided to forego coming up with symbols and sending them in. That and I frankly don't have any good ideas for them in the first place.

Otherwise, two submissions sent!

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Timitius wrote:
So, if you have art or images, or art concepts (or if you have a location...a rough map) then, yes, submit it with your written entry.

What file types, sizes, and resolutions do you want? Black and white or color?

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