vvincent's page

I guess it depends on what your standard is (dropped a preposition at the end of the sentence there, sorry). If you're looking for Melville or Tolstoy or Dickens in the Pathfinder Tales section - you perhaps have too high an expectation. It's like going to the Cooper dealership and expecting to find a Mercedes or a Tesla.

For what they are supposed to be - pieces of fantasy fiction that showcase the setting for Pathfinder - Pathfinder Tales does the job admirably well. Dave Gross isn't Tolstoy, but it's a competent writer given the material at hand and the publishing constraints under which he works. If you adjust your expectations to something less grand - you'll find the Tales are enjoyable and fun within the constraints of the material.

And, as for Jessica's response, there is a bit of a tone of classism in the question and your explanation of it. Perhaps that wasn't what you intended, but I can understand why some might take it with that tone.

In my opinion, there are (at a minimum) two people who can answer this question: the player and the DM. You might additionally include the other players at the table, but the player of the character and the DM are absolutely necessary.

As others have said, good and evil, law and chaos, are objective effects in the Pathfinder game. They are detectable and are used as magical qualifiers for effects (paladin smite, word of chaos, etc).

Assuming that there isn't a specific provision in the rules for how torture is defined (i.e. - unless the DMG or elsewhere says 'torture is an evil act'), you should probably use the dictionary definition for torture when evaluating it.

I just used dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/torture) and got this definition:

noun
1.the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.
2.a method of inflicting such pain.
3.Often, tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone.
4.extreme anguish of body or mind; agony.
5.a cause of severe pain or anguish.

So, within that context - you and your DM have to decide if torture, as defined, constitutes an Evil act. Assuming 'Yes', you would probably need to then decide what effects, if any, this evil act has on your character.

From a personal standpoint, in looking at the possible interpretations, only one part -"as a means of getting a confession or information" could be persuasive to me in not considering torture an evil act. All others seem to indicate the intentional infliction of pain for its own purpose, which few would argue is evil. But - again - this is a conversation between you and your DM, with possibly the others at your table.

Congratulations, Monica. I've been rooting for you ever since seeing your amazing map in round two!

That maps kicks ass 12 ways! It's a great design! Congratulations Monica!

Here's the other problem no one has addressed. GM's who will refuse to GM anything but Core Only when players want Normal games.

Well - this accounts for me. But it's not that I've refused - it's that I haven't volunteered. And for the reasons that Core-Only seems built to address. I shouldn't have to have mastered the equivalent of the Library of Congress in order to run this game. It's not that I'm a poor DM - it's that I simply don't have the hours to spend pouring over every book to familiarize myself with all of the possible combinations and interactions of classes, skills, feats, spells, and specialized mechanics. And if I had the time, I don't have the money to buy everything. It's simply not possible.

There comes a point where it just becomes a contest to see who has the bigger ... collection of books and the time to read them all.

As someone above said - sorry for the thread necromancy here.

Is there any way to buy just the box? I'm not interested in the card game.

I'm not sure I see the problem of splitting the base. Core-only characters can transition to standard campaign if they want to. So it's not like you're locked into Core-only forever.

Speaking for myself - I look forward to trying out the Core-Only option. And while I find myself wishing for a bit of a middle ground (Core-plus), I see the reasons for doing it as all-or-nothing.

Not to lob a grenade in here - but: do orc children radiate evil (as per the detect evil spell)? If so, they are evil - if not, they aren't. Remember - we aren't dealing with "real-world" morality here, even though that's really our only frame of reference. We're dealing with a fantasy reality where evil can be objectively detected by means of a spell. Where mechanical effects can affect evil creatures differently than others.

Would they be subject to the evil damage from a paladin's smite? Would you gain a benefit to your AC if you had protection from evil and were facing an orc child who wanted to attack you?

For me - the answer to the question "Are orc toddlers evil" depends on whether or not they detect as evil.

I've actually been planning an assimar character around this concept too (have a cert, so I'm legal). I thought about doing something like amnesia or some such thing (like implanted memories), but haven't fully developed the idea.

Then again, I like the idea for an android character as well. Haven't checked to see if they are PFS-legal or if you need a cert.

thunderspirit wrote:

Mike Mistele wrote:

All kidding aside, Ron is a fabulous writer, and a great guy. Congrats to him, and very much looking forward to seeing this AP!

And this.

Thanks much for the votes of confidence!

I'm ridiculously excited to be crashing onto the adventure path scene with this, and in such august company!

One can't heap enough praise on Ron Lundeen. It's like one can't have too much bacon. Ron "Bacon" Lundeen has a penchant for creative ways to die while still having fun. I'm both looking forward to the adventure and preparing my complaint about how I got eaten by some alien.

Seriously, Ron - congratulation! Paizo was right to recognize your talent.

When acquiring property under the Vanity rules in the Field Guide, you do get some minor in-game or post-game benefit. For example a Absalom Tounhouse (15 PP) give you a +4 Knowledge (local) or Diplomacy one per game in your home district and a +2 bonus for Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Sense Motive all the time in that district.

That's pretty cool - and fairly balanced too. I'll have to check out the Field Guide

vvincent wrote:

Surprised it's not there. Will upload it later tonight when I get home.

Much appreciated!

It's up there now.

Do you happen to know where I could get a copy of those rules? They don't appear to be up on verbobonc.net.

Surprised it's not there. Will upload it later tonight when I get home.

Thank you for your contribution to LG Vernon. Verbobonc was one of the coolest regions to play in, and extra efforts like the rules you wrote played a part in that awesome factor. Back when Joshua Frost was the campaign manager for PFS he made a statement that he didn't want stuff like this because it made the campaign the equivalent of "Living Barbie" (as in Barbie Dolls and all the accessories that came with them). While I appreciate the desire to keep things simple, I think what the hardcore players want are more option to customize their characters and bring them to life. PFS will enter its 5th Season in August. I think the LG regions really started to flesh out around that point. Mr. Brock is listening...

Thanks, Doug. I have to admit that it was an administrative pain at times due to people not properly documenting their stuff, but on the whole - I think people really enjoyed it. The thing about them was they weren't required to play in the region. You could make a perfectly fine regional character without being a part of the Town Project. So if you didn't want to play "Living Barbie" - you didn't have to.

Anyway - thanks again!

During the LG days, the region of Verbobonc (Illinois/Indiana) had campaign rules for PCs who wanted to own their own homes. Depending on how you fleshed it out, you could get certain bonuses to skills during adventures that were set in the town where you owned your home.

Of course, those rules also cover the creation of player-founded towns, which I wouldn't expect Pathfinder to even think about implementing.

The problematic aspect for PF would be the fact that characters don't really have a home region, so they couldn't expect to have adventures that were regularly set in or around their 'home town'. But I'm sure that it wouldn't be hard to do something similar with the larger cities.

Disclaimer: I wrote the last version of those rules during LG, so you could say that I have a passing familiarity with them.

Feiya - her turn on's

1) Wintery days
2) People who smile
3) Using shin-bones for toothpicks.

Her turn offs
1) Humpbacks
2) People who frown
3) The color green

Ron Lundeen is one of the best non-professional writers I've had the privilege of working with. A former campaign administrator for the Living Greyhawk campaign, Ron is an excellent writer who comes up with unique challenges for characters in his adventures. You cannot go wrong with one of his adventures.

Here's the thing. Much of the commentary assumes a perspective that we have in the modern world today, which is largely based on judeo-christian morality. It's artificial to apply those same values to a fantasy game world where there are racial enemies that are a part of the mileau (elves vs. drow; elves vs. orcs, dwarves vs. duergar, etc). In this context, such races would likely view the elimination of young as "extermination". There is even a class (the ranger) that has bonuses against such favored enemies, so the concept of racial extermination is very much a part of the game.

And if we do apply the concept to the "children" of evil creatures, where is the limit? Does it only apply to creatures with an anthropomorphic frame (i.e human-like)? What about baby grell or juvenile ooze? Is this a matter of having problems with the killing of fantasy children that meet specific criteria (i.e. - they look similar to me) or the offspring of all "sentient" creatures.

I understand the distaste the topic has for some people, because violence against children happens all-to-often in the real world. And, ultimately, whether or not to include such an encounter rests with the DM and his/her awareness of the players' sensitivities. But it's important to remember the context of the fantasy world and how the various races view each other.

Just some thoughts from someone who's dealt with this very topic in another campaign.