shieldknight01's page

Hooray, a maptools thread! I'm surprised I didn't notice this until now, I've been using MapTools for a while. Though in a slightly different fashion than designed for. I have a projector setup to send the map to the game table, and have two instances of MapTools open at all times. One for the projector for the players to see, and one for my laptop for me to play around with.

Anyhow, great to see there is a MapFinder thread, I'll be keeping an eye on this to see if any awesome Pathfinder-related things pop up. :D

This is how I want to initially use maptools. I'm working on setting up a projector for our local gamedays and using maptools to project the map on the table. The main reason I wish to use it this way is becuase I either have to take an hour before the game, or during the game to draw out all the maps for combat. This shortens the actual play time during the 4 hour slot we have set aside. Plus it would allow me to show maps of cities and countries so that all the players can see it at the same time. Besides, its rather frustrating drawing a quick stick built dungeon when there is a beautiful detailed map in the adventure packet.

I would like to create a couple Persona's for Firefox using iconics and the pathfinder logo. Is this allowed? I don't want to do something that is illegal. But I do want to be able to personalize my web browser with my favorite game.

Here is my Gamer's Closet webpage. I'm currenlty reconstructing it, as we have started a new home campaign, and have switched from 4E to Pathfinder. I do not believe that I have broken any OGL rules, but if I have, I apologize ahead of time and will promptly remove the file if it is inappropriate.

I have updated this file to include feats, spells, and traits from Cheliax Empire of Devils and Dwarves of Golarion.

I only recently became a subscriber to the Adventure Path (yesterday), so I don't have any of the information on feats, spells and traits from the adventure paths. And I only buy occasional Chronicles, so I don't have some of that either. I should become a subscriber to the Companions as I have been buying all of them anyway, but I want to support my LFGS, and so I have compromised and buy half and half. Half from Paizo directly, and half from my LFGS. Not that I can really complain, my LFGS does give me a 20% discount on all RPG gaming products I buy (I just don't get the free pdf that comes with subscriptions). Maybe that's a sign that I spend too much money there. :)

Defenestration has got to be one of the cooler things to do in gaming. Happens in every western.

If I subscribe to the AP line this week, will I get the first "Kingmaker"? Or will it take affect next month? I can't wait to get this in my hands.

“Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.” ~ Seneca

Josh and cast,

Thanks for these Phase 1 changes. They will go a long way for our local group of gamers. (And when I say local, I'm including a 150 mile radius) Some of us get to conventions while most don't, mainly because conventions happen 12+ hours away. These changes will allow us to play more scenarios and not have to skip a bunch just because two or three people played it at a convention only they went to. The changes will also allow the few GM's we have keep their characters on a level playing field with those who don't GM in our group. (I was seeing GM characters with half the gold and PA at level 4 and 5 in our group. Makes it tough to keep up on the output curve.)

Thanks again, and keep up the great work! Love the changes thus far.

R.O.U.S's?

How about Joss Whedon?

Sorry, big Firefly/Joss fanboy. :P

So, I love these threads. Thinking of all the possibilities. But has anyone actually started working on a screenplay? Now that would be even more interesting. Maybe a series/trilogy? What would be the overall plot? How could you write it so that the general public would enjoy it, yet be specific to Pathfinder so fans love it.

Forget it. I don't know how to PM you.

EDIT: I didn't think so. That is the reason for my statement above.

Sorry, didn't realize that couldn't be done.

Here is my Gamer's Closet webpage. I'm currenlty reconstructing it, as we have started a new home campaign, and have switched from 4E to Pathfinder. I do not believe that I have broken any OGL rules, but if I have, I apologize ahead of time and will promptly remove the file if it is inappropriate.

Gamer's Closet, since most gamers I know always seem to be the people you least expect. And my wife never wants to admit that I'm a gamer.

Would you be willing to post a link to your spreadsheet? I would like to see it if it is not on a filesharing site.

I'll post what I have on my gamer page. PM me for the address.

I've put together a spreadsheet of all the traits, with a notation of the ones that are allowed in PFS. It's very handy for players to use when creating a new character. It prints out in 3 pages. It lists the trait, Pathfinder legal, trait category, trait subcategory, any prerequisites, basic bonuses. It's not fully up-to-date, as I just recently received my copy of Cheliax and Dwarven Companions.

I've also started similar spreadsheets for feats and spells not from the core rule book. These are not fully functioning, as they do not give all the information, just the basics, something similar to what you see in the feat table of the core rule book.

I just put these together for our local group as they make character creation and advancement a little easier.

Is there a Feat, available for play in Pathfinder Society that gives a PC Extra Traits (probably 2 extra) and allow more than one Trait from a single "category"?

Try "Additional Traits", found in the Web trait document. You are still only allowed 1 per category though.

Edit: Doh! Josh beat me to it by a few seconds.

Just saw this on ENWorld. Go to ARMY BUILDER

Can't believe that its allowed by the USTO. Interesting that LW waited until 5 years was up before they asked for people to stop using the term "Army Builder".

Nothing like manipulating the system. I know some gamers that would be real proud of a feat like that.

A third printing? Sounds like sales are doing really well. I'm glad to hear it. My group has now completely converted over to Pathfinder. We love it! We're not a big group, but there's about 15 players and 3 GM's.

Keep up the great work!
Go Golarion!

shieldknight01 wrote:

While true, how often do you really see DR or hardness at early levels?

Every time you fight skeletons. Or swarms. Or fey. Or maniacal intelligent flesh golems wielding scythes which they then proceed to full-Power Attack crit the resident rogue into a wall with.

(yes, that last actually happened. ~200 damage to a level ... 7? character, and it's in a published module)

I would consider this in the mid-level range, not low level. Low level being 5 and below.

The claws thing might be an issue. My Eidolon also has 4 claws and a bite (with trip no pounce yet). It's been my experience at lvl one and two that the Eidolon is fairly powerful but takes a stop at suck town when faced by anything with DR or hardness.

While true, how often do you really see DR or hardness at early levels? Plus the other characters have the same issue with this as the Eidolon.

I guess, the big issue for me with the Summoner is that it seems like you are getting two PC's for the price of one. A, albeit somewhat weak, spellcaster who focuses in summoning, and a front line fighter. At least that is the combination I'm seeing with our group.

Maybe if the Eidolon had fewer evolution points to spend, a slower natural armor progression and a d8 HD instead of d10. What if you try to treat it more like an advanced animal companion or advanced familiar? I like the idea/concept it just seems to be a little overpowering at the moment.

As I stated above, we removed the "rear" claw attacks. I will have him change his hp, thanks for the reminder. Still, seems like a high AC and hp for that low of a level.

Here's the set up. We began the RotRL AP. Characters rolled 4d6 for ability scores. I allowed feats from the Bestiary for the Summoners Eidolon.

The player chose a quadraped with claws, claws, pounce as evolutions and multiattack for a feat. Giving him 5 attacks on a charge, AC 14 (18 after Mage Armor) and 22 hitpoints. (Max hp at first level)

We quickly found the 5 attacks to be very overpowering, and with an 18 AC and 22 hp he had as much AC as the best PC and twice the hp. The other characters quickly felt unneeded in combat.

I asked him to change one of the claws, which he politely accepted and changed to Improved Natural Armor. Now he had a 20 AC after Mage Armor.

When the characters leveled to 2nd, he took a tail as a new evolution and Improved Natural Armor as a feat. (Now at 29hp and 23 AC after Mage Armor.)

Perhaps we are misreading the class, but this has played out as very overpowering, making it less fun for the rest of the group. How this will play out in higher levels, I'm unsure. But currently it is making the game less fun for the other characters.

The only time the eidolon has been threatened has been when they come upon a creature with ranged touch attacks, i.e. the quasit Erylum (sp?).

Any suggestions, or help is appreciated.

Can we get some love for Zon-Kuthon? His deity spell is not included in the list of spells allowed, but other "evil" gods have their spells included. Actually most of them do. Is there a reason why Zon's is not? It can't be because its too powerful, it costs 250gp, and as soon as the Big Bad Evil Guy hits you, and realizes that it takes half the damage, it will attack other players.

Just looking for some Zon-Kuthon lovin'!

Can we play a cleric who worships an evil deity? The character would be LN, while the god is LE (Zon Kuthon).

Also, if this is legal, its disappointing that I can't even use my god's spell. It's not on the list of available spells in "Gods and Magic".

Josh said it's done and should be posted by the end of the week.

SWEET! Can't wait. Thanks Josh for getting this done and doing PFS in general.

Only because I wanna play a playtest class this weekend, I need to know, is there an ETA on the updated Players Guide?
Thanks!

Sincerely,
Mr. Impatient

Thanks for the ideas. I generally find very little time to work on adventures, so I tend to used published adventures. Perhaps it wouldn't take too much to adapt a tall tale, or legendary story from the past. Especially if it was one that I knew pretty well.

My 8 year old daughter and a couple of her friends, all in the 8-10 year range, want to play "D&D" like her old man and his friends. But I don't want something as R rated as standard adventures run.

Does anyone have any suggestions for PG or age appropriate adventures?

Has anyone else run into something similar in the past? Or do most just wait until their children are "adults" before allowing them to play?

I was wondering if it was considered for the Cavalier's Oaths to be bonuses that are applied while attempting to keep the oath, rather than a bonus for completing the oath (or perhaps a combination of the two). Given that the cavalier class seems to describe the "honor-based" warrior, it would seem to me more appropriate that he makes a "Thou shalt not pass" or "i will protect you from harm" oath, get some kind of bonus that allows him or her to keep the oath, then get a morale-based bonus for succeeding (or a morale-based penalty for failing).

But maybe that's just me.

This was my immediate thought as well. I especially don't like the 24hour wait period. This will keep some players from playing a cavalier in Pathfinder Society. A lot of the Scenarios are done in less than 24 hours and therefore you would never get the chance to use your bonus, you many not even get the prerequisite 24hours in to fulfill the oath. Unless this is addressed in the PFS Guide, I would like to see it addressed here. To not be able to use one of your classes basic abilities for an entire adventure before the adventure even starts seems to be a bit harsh. But this is only relevant to PFS.

That's disappointing. I was building an intelligent fighter, and was hoping to be able to have a very skilled fighter. Would have given it a flair that would make him different from other fighters. May not help much in the sense of combat, but would have been great for the roleplaying aspect.

My apologies if this has been asked before.

Can we use the alternate class features available in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting in Pathfinder Society? i.e. - Trained at a War College for Fighter.

Thanks

Thanks for posting on ENWorld.

I'll try to quickly repeat what I said there.

I love the cards. I think you have done a magnificent job. However, I'm only looking for the template for MSE. That way I can type up just the spells I want to use as I need them. I also don't care for the artwork, even though most of it is pretty amazing.

Is it possible to just get the template? I am willing to type in info in exchange.

Thanks

I got in on the ground floor, I put in a lot of hours and I want to stay ahead, it’s selfish but natural.

Thank you for making this statement. I will not tell you why your attitude is wrong, but I would like to use it to make a point.

Ever since the beginning of this discussion, the anti-replayers have made the argument that the pro-replayers are being selfish and that they should just play a pregen, sit down and enjoy it. But I've held the opinion that there is just as much selfishness, if not more, on the anti-replayer side of the discussion. My opinion.

I've got a small group where we barely make a table most games. I've kinda been the self-designated GM for PFS. While I accept my role with honor, it is also very frustrating. Of the first 30 scenarios, I will have GM'd 26 and only played 4. That leaves me with a couple of characters at about 3rd and 7th levels with half the gold and fewer PA than their counterparts. Gaming at home, this isn't as much of a problem. But when I go to a convention, I feel left behind and under qualified to play in my appropriate tier. Am I being selfish because I want a chance to play those scenarios with my characters? What about the gamers that refuse to GM? Are they not being selfish as well?

Selfishness aside, most gamers are there to have fun and play a game/hobby that they enjoy. Would I play a pregen? Yes, but if I was at a convention where I paid money to play, I would more likely find something else to play rather than play a pregen. (Most cons in my area offer other types of games at the same time. Munchkin, Warhammer, Hero Clix, etc...) But if I could play a new character in a replay, I would play every time.

Cheaters are going to cheat no matter what decision is made. If replays are allowed, then you will have the cheater who levels up characters. If they are not allowed, you will have pets and children signed up for PFS who GM so the actual player can get full credit. Either way it's going to happen.

I think the bigger question is... "What's best for Pathfinder and Paizo?" This is their game, their society, their product. If the decision made brings in more players, and more profits (yes, there is a business behind all this), wouldn't it be the better decision? If Pathfinder and Paizo are doing well and growing, then so is PFS and our player base. Also, if it improves Pathfinder and Paizo, then won't we also benefit?

For the record, if you couldn't tell, I am for replays with full credit.

Replays were one of the biggest turn offs of LFR for me. The games feel rushed to get another toon geared up. I miss the story telling and surprise that seems to get lost with several players replaying the module.

Unfortunately, my experience with LFR (and I do have a bit of it having played over half the adventures up to date, and most of those I have replayed) is that they are just bad for roleplaying to start with. And always feel rushed because combat takes forever and gives you little time to roleplay. And even when you do have the opportunity to roleplay, its through a skill challenge and gets too stressful for anyone to enjoy.

Our group has begun playing PFS more often now instead of LFR because of the better written scenarios (in our opinion) and that your lv10 character feels different compared to when it was lv1. (Not just more hit points and a better AC and attack that progresses slower than the monsters.) But that's another discussion.

The comment I get from everyone is that they enjoy Pathfinder much more than 4E and want to continue their RPG habit with Pathfinder. I run the PFS/LFR portion of the local university gamedays (PFS is prefered) and find that if replay's are not allowed, we will eventually be unable to put tables together. It's a small university with a limited number of players. If we have new players show up and the existing players are higher level and have played all the low level adventures, what do we do? Or if someone misses a few game days and ends up a couple levels behind, how do you get them back up with the rest of the group without repeating adventures? These are a couple of the situations we find ourselves in because of our location and small group size. I don't have the perfect answer, and I don't think there is one. But we need to come up with a compromise that will benefit everyone, or almost everyone, without alienating a significant portion of the PFS players worldwide. I've previously posted my suggestion, and I think it would work as a good compromise without completely offending those who don't want replays. I even have a sneaky suspicion that if replays were allowed in some form, you would see some of those opposed to it doing it.

As an added comment, if you allow replays without giving some form of reward, that new player isn't going to get to play, because nobody is going to continually replay adventures without a reward. Especially in my situation where people are driving a minimum of 60 miles to play. They don't want to have to spend the entire day playing pregens just so one or two people can begin a new character. Now, they will do it once in a while, but if it begins happening more often they'll either quit coming or just tell that new player not to even bother sitting down. And we don't want either of those things to happen.

Just my thoughts.

Thanks for the replies. We are still discussing how we want to do this.

Lanx wrote:

Not all items got a descriptive text due to space constraints. The scimitar seems to be one of them.

Or it was simply forgotten.

Probably a combination of both of those.

This is all fine and dandy, but my concern is that there is nowhere in the rules that I could find that said you could use the Weapon Finesse feat for the scimitar. Usually, this is handled in the weapon description. Maybe this is on purpose, but if it is, why can you use Weapon Finesse for the Elven Curve Blade, which is a two-handed scimitar and not for a regular scimitar? Or did I just miss a rule allowing Weapon Finesse for the scimitar?

Thanks.

shieldknight01 wrote:

maybe this has already been asked, but I can't find it anywhere.

Where is the weapon entry for the scimitar? I can't find the description anywhere. Am I just blind?

Page 142, near the end of the page under "Martial weapons - One handed melee weapons".

I'm sorry, you misunderstand. Every weapon has a description text, but I cannot find the one for Scimitar. I'm not looking for the entry with the cost/damage/type, but the actual descriptive text of what the weapon is like and how it works. It should be on page 148 between "Sai" and "Shield, Heavy or Light", but it's not.

maybe this has already been asked, but I can't find it anywhere.

Where is the weapon entry for the scimitar? I can't find the description anywhere. Am I just blind?

My friends and I are looking into playing online, so that we can play a little more often. We have never done this before. I'm looking for suggestions on software/hardware and "how to" for online play.

Thanks

Here's my suggestion:
1) Only allow replays of scenarios that have been out for at least a year. For example, scenario #29 could not be played as a replay until August 2010.
2) You must use a new character or pregen in order to play a replay.
3) You will only get GM credit for any replays, instead of full credit or no credit. If played with a pregen, you would get no credit.
4) A player is limited to replaying a scenario only once. (This may be a little harder to enforce.)

I think this would alleviate the concern of those who don't want a replay sitting at the table ruining the storyline for them. Which seems to be the biggest group against replays. You still have one year to get the scenario in before this would happen. It also allows those of us who have a limited number of players the chance to allow all players get involved whenever we get together, no matter what scenarios they may have played elsewhere. As far as those who post "No Replays!", there is nothing I would suggest that would make them happy, as I am for replays.

Just my thoughts.

I would say no - at 28 scenarios a year, that is more than enough to play a different scenario each time. I can pillage the scenarios I purchase for home-campaign ideas too. :)

As I've already found out the hard way, not all scenarios can be played at low levels. So that 28 per year is actually quite a bit less. Especially if you have new players stepping in. You can always make a new low level character, they can not make a high level character. And before you tell me they could play a pregen. Why would I play a pregen character and get no credit, and then not be able to play that scenario in the future with a legit character? Or am I misunderstanding the current rules?

Obviously those of us that believe in replays only because of where we live and the limit to the number of players we have, are a minority. I would love to live in a location where I didn't have to worry about replays. Consider yourselves lucky.

Now, if replays are not allowed, I foresee something similar to what I saw in LG happening. I personally know of several players who introduced their cat, dog, infant child, etc... to LG just so they could have enough players at the table. Their pets and children would have RPGA numbers and would even pass the DM test and be able to run the games. In this manner, you would have Fluffy run every game, get the DM credit, and your character would get full experience for playing the adventure. I've seen it happen in LG. It will happen in PFS if replays are not allowed. It probably already does.

It's easy to forget that some of us, albeit a minority, live in areas of the world where gamers are few and far between. I normally have to travel 2+ hours just to play once a month. As a father of three, that doesn't always work.

I would be okay with allowing replays for scenarios of the previous season, but not the current season. But I do need replays in order for us to be able to put a table together on a regular basis. My concern isn't for allowing new members into PFS, my concern is to keep those of us that are playing PFS, playing it, instead of leaving PFS for home campaigns and LFR.

shieldknight01 wrote:

Mock me if you like....

Whoa whoa whoa. That TOTALLY wasn't meant as mockery. Sorry if it came off like that - stupid impersonal internet, I guess sometimes the smiley face wink combo ascii (^_~) just doesn't cut it. In fact, it was meant as a sideway's way of saying that we're working on something that we really haven't officially announced yet.

Sorry, but yeah the internet is so impersonal and is one of the reasons I don't like communicating with it. Probably why I don't usually write on the messageboards. I'll back off and read for a while again.

Let me start off by saying I fully understand why players on this board don't want replays. But I'll keep my assumptions to myself. Having said that...

GIVE ME REPLAYS!

Unlike most of you, I live in an area where we have a very limited number of players. (Fewer than 6) I will liken my response to what it was like playing LG.

There would be many times where a player (and a player is all it takes when you have only 5 people) has played a few scenarios at a convention. Now none of the other players can play said scenarios. Yes, he could use a pregen character, but my experience has been that a person plays unrationally or worse yet, bored when they have no vested interest in the character they are playing.

When LG was around there were a lot more scenarios we could choose from. So there seemed to always be at least one or two that we could play. But it still made it very difficult, and sometimes would take an hour to figure out what everyone hadn't played and what could be played. As a DM in that system, I would download all the scenarios I could, just so we would have on hand the scenario we would end up playing. With the current system that gets really expensive. And I won't do it.

On another note, with so few players, some of us who want to play storylines don't get to because one or two players have played a part of the storyline at another location. I saw this happen a lot in LG.

I would like to see some version of replays, with some credit. Especially for GM's. As was previously mentioned by another GM, some of us are the only ones who GM in our group and thus will have inferior characters when we do get to a con.

Just my 2 cents.

Ask shieldknight if you can have this one when he's done using it. ^^

I'm not done yet.

While there is the future option of an app on the iPhone and iTouch. There may still be a market for a pocket rulebook. Something I believe Paizo should at least consider and look into. It's another product that could be marketed. And you already have the material to go into it. The main cost would be the printing, not the creation of material.

Where's the marketing manager? It's just an idea, and I thought I would post it here to see if there was anyone else who would be interested.

If you have an iWhatever and get the app, great, good for you. But for the rest of us, a pocket rulebook/s would go a long way. You could even eventually put together compilations. The Pathfinder Companion Compilation, or Chronicles, or whatever else may be needed. It would definitely have to be small enough to fit in my pocket though.

Thanks for the feedback.

And I believe there already is a thread dedicated to the iPhone app. At least I believe there is one on the Yahoo Group page.

Hum. If there were only some kind of portable electronic device that millions of people already owned that might be able to host such content in an easily searchable format along with other gaming related utilities. Someone should really get on that. ^_~

Mock me if you like (especially disapointing coming from an editor), but some of us don't have hundreds of dollars to waste on a fancy phone that doesn't work where we live. AT&T is NOT an option, and thus, neither is the iPhone. Not including the outrageous money I would have to spend monthly for the service plan, compared to the small amount I spend now.

Not all of us use the latest in Apple gear, nor want to. The pocket rulebook would be for those of us without an iwhatever, and still want something weighing less than the 50lbs worth of core rulebooks we have to carry around.

Recently listened to a podcast FTB where they talked about doing pocket sized rulebooks for RPG's. (One that actually fits in your pocket.) Say 8"x4"x1"?

I would be all for this, especially since you are required to carry your rulebooks with you at conventions in order to use material from them for Pathfinder Society and RPGA. Would drastically cut down on the total weight of materials I would be carrying. And if done right, would be great even at home, where you could have a copy that floats around the table that doesn't take up your dice rolling or map space.

Take out the pictures and simplify tables. Could even break up rulebooks. For example, if you were to do the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, you could separate out the things needed for making a character. Pages 1-157. And then have a second one with additional rules, combat, spells, magic items, prestige classes and the like. The only problem I see right away is that that if you want to play a spellcaster, you would have to buy both books.

You could even do an annual Pathfinder Companion pocket book. Or Pathfinder Chronicles pocket book. Or how about a Bestiary pocket book?

I know that there are many costs to this, and people will bring out the negatives about it, but it is not something I would buy in place of the actual books, but rather something I would buy as a supplement to them.

Just my thought. I would buy them if they were done well.

Check out this web video of the line for the new book.

http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/

You'll have to scroll down the page a bit. It was the first video posted. Called "Gen Con Exhibitor's Hall - Pathfinder & Paizo".

One thing everyone is forgetting with the taxes, is that technically, and legally you are supposed to pay your state and local taxes for things bought online. It would be something you have to submit seperately. If you think I'm kidding, I'm not. In my state, South Dakota, they are starting to crack down on this and looking into ways to enforce this, as a lot of people in my state live in a location where the only choice they have is to drive 100 miles or shop online. Legally you are still responsible for the taxes on items bought online. Just because the online store doesn't charge you for them, doesn't mean they aren't there. Even stuff bought from Paizo.com!

For example, on average I would guess that I spend about $1,200 in online purchases. If I was to pay my state sales tax, which is 4%, it would cost me an additional $48. Multiply this by the number of people in the state, 750,000 and you get about $36 million dollars that my state is missing out on. Now look at a bigger state like our neighbor, Minnesota, whith a population in the millions. There are a lot of states out there that would have a lot more money to spend on education and transportation if we all paid our online taxes. Not to mention the local communities. Mine has a 2% sales tax, add that into the mix and my local community is probably missing out on about $300,000 a year from internet sales tax.

Now, having said that, I will admit I have not yet paid any taxes for online purchases. I could go on with several suggestions on how the states could enforce this, but I digress.

I know everyone is saying that it is Amazon and the like that are putting our FLGS out of business, but I would have to politely disagree. I would say it is our FLGS that are putting themselves out of business. My FLGS sells all gaming products at a 20% discount off the MSRP all the time. It's not as great as the 30% that Amazon gives, but I also get to meet new gamers and play locally run games/tournaments at my FLGS. Something that I can't do at Amazon.com. As long as my FLGS keeps having game days, where I can play with people I haven't met before and continues to sell all of their gaming products at a 20% discount, I will continue to shop there instead of Amazon.com. Could I save some cash, yeah, but I wouldn't have the experience, and by supporting my local FLGS, I keeping 4 or 6 local people employed in this down economy. My FLGS even goes out of its way to support our local conventions and gaming groups by giving away free merchandise at conventions in exchange for some advertising.
I do know of two other gaming stores within 70 miles of this one that while offering tournaments and game days, do not offer free merchandise for conventions and no discount on any products. I don't buy from either of them, even though one is closer. There are a lot of things B&M retailers can do to get my dollar.
Maybe its not the norm, and maybe I'm just lucky in the fact that my FLGS is great to work with and that they offer a wonderful service to the gamer community and a great discount. Either way, I'm glad their here, and I'll continue to support them.

BTW, I have to drive 72 miles to get to my FLGS. So I only get there about once a month. And I usually spend on average $120 a visit.

The artificer is up on the DDI page under Dragon 365 (I think, but it might be 364). You can download the entire article for free right now. And WOTC made an announcement a week or so ago, saying that DDI would be $7.95/month or $4.95/month (if you pay for 12 months).

In "Fun with Pigs and Other Stuff", Bill Slavicsek mentions a new build for Fighters called the Tempest (which will come out with the Martial Powers book). Just wondering what other people think about this. Will this make a Two-Weapon Fighting Ranger pointless? Or will they add things to the Ranger so it doesn't just become a ranged weapon fighter?

Just wondering if this will eliminate the melee Ranger as a class option?

I know we don't have much info yet, but the preview given shows more advantages rather than disadvantages for taking the Fighter Tempest build over the Ranger 2-Wpn build. From what they are showing thus far, you will get more pluses to attack and damage, but you will be using lower damage weapons.

Also wondering if anyone has any more information on this. I wanted to play a two weapon fighter, but I may wait now, knowing that this is coming out.