Good bundle!
(well, except for the Pathfinder Online time credit...)
And there are none of those dreadful comics either.
Search Posts
I'm assuming that Ghlaunder is an entirely orginal creation and not in any way related to any other similarly-named, spider-associated deities of abominations and outcasts who happen to the intellectual property of other publishers?
"Hyenafolk"? Is "gnoll" IP then? If so, how has World of Warcraft gotten away with it for 15 years?
OK, so it has been established in previous threads that I don't really "get" this whole twitch and streaming thing, so please bear with me while I ask some genuine questions. Will this Pathfinder Friday thing include announcements/clarifications/general new information? If so, will there be a text summary of this new information somewhere for those of us who do not watch streams? And if not then, um, and I don't mean this antagonisttically, then what is it for?
Thank you Cori Marie for taking the time to explain. I was previously unaware of G&S, or anything like them, but then I only have the vaguest idea of what “Twitch” is. I must admit that I have been dismayed by the tendency I have seen from Paizo and others to move away from simple text to long rambling videos that take an hour to convey what I could read in 3 minutes, but obviously this is popular and becoming commonplace.
Then wouldn’t jf have been great if the blogpost had sais something like “if you don’t know, these guys are entertaining roleplayers who are experts at turning a gaming session into a great experience for the viewers”, rather than telling me that one guy was once in a commercial that was shown during a sporting event?
Or, to put it simply - if I want to watch a group of people playing a game I can wander into any gaming location or no doubt there are plenty already online. Yet the post seems full of the assumption that I should be excited that *this* group of people are playing a game, going to moderate lengths to tell me about them. What is so special about them?
Hated the idea of Goblins in core when first mooted. Hated them in the playtest. Hate them now.
No, don't remove them - they add drama and excitement to the play. However, the rules (as with many others in the playtest book) need a serious editorial overhaul. "A natural 20 is always a success. If it would be a natural success anyway, it become a critical success. A natural 1 is always a failure. If it would be a natural failure anyway, it becomes a critical failure."
I appear to have a defective copy - mine is in the voice of Brian Blessed - it certainly makes you pay attention!
Some of the design principles are faily obvious 1) Make classes matter. They're not just things you dip into to get the particular feature you want. They are the core of your character and gate the things you can and can't do. 2) Spread the love. Stop frontloading everything so that level progression is smoother, and going from 14th to 15th level is as big a deal as going from 4th to 5th. 3) Fewer subsystems. Everything works the same way. 4) Make skills matter, as you've said. I think there is a lot of subtlety in the skill system that those complaining that "the legendary guy is only +5 better than untrained" have missed - particularly the way it interacts with the critical success and critical failure rules. 5) Stop being That Guy. Specifically, That Guy who makes Characters Who Are Really Really Good At Only One Thing. Because yes PF1 may let you make the 1st level character with a +15 diplomacy, or a guy who can wield three halberds, but frankly that makes the game all about you, skews the principles of encounter design, and leads to encounters that are either too easy or impossible, depending on the makeup of That's Guys party.
p309 states simply that, using the Shield Block reaction REDUCES the amount of damage that you take from a blow by an amount equal to the shield's hardness. The shield takes the damage instead. It also says this may cause the shield to be dented. Seems simple enough. I would take 10 damage, but my wooden shield takes 3 of it, and I take 7, right? But what happens to the shield? Page 175 says that an item reduces any damage dealt to it by its hardness. So my wooden shield, hardnes 3, tekes 3 damage, which is reduced to 0. But then how could my shield possibly ever become dented, as it cannot deflect more damage than it has hardness? But right there on page 175 it gives an example of a wooden shield taking 10 damage and getting two dents. But how could a wooden shield ever take 10 damage - it can only deflect 3? (unless it is attached to a wall or something and someone is hitting it, not in combat). There doesn't appear to be a sunder action any more. The intention, supported by the examples, and the fact that shields can't get potency runes, seems to be to have frangible shields. But the rules don't support that. I have no idea how this works. *EDIT* the only way I can see to make this all work is if the Shield Block reaction doesn't REDUCE the damage at all, but instead the shield takes ALL the damage. But that is absolutely not what it says.
Eclipsed and discarded for nearly 20 years, why was the return of this iconic piece of equipment not given its own blog? Hells, it's own podcast? No longer must we herd sheep through dungeons! And it actually has codified rules as well! Yay! Surely worth one Bulk of anyone's money.
Hmm, people are offering me a foul porrige called ‘hominy grits’ and saying “y’all” a lot - have I taken a wrong turn?
For the love of god please ship some of these to Europe. Damaged sets are going for 90 quid on ebay. People are making a living selling individual pawns to hollow-eyed buyers in clandestine deals on street corners. The only ones on Amazon are shipped from somewhere called 'Idaho' and I don't even know where that is. Please help!
Thank you - that was good fun and very different playing at breakneck speed!
I have a little speil that I give newbies to explain the concept in about 30 seconds. It goes something like: "On the world of Golarion, the Pathfinder Society is an international academic organization dedicated to recovering and publishing the lost secrets of the past, because civilization has risen and fallen several times on this world. So they employ lots of archaeologists, scholars and the like. But they also emplooy people like you - Pathfinder Agents. People who are not afraid to go out into the field and get their hands dirty or face danger. Because the ancient artifact you want to recover may not be in the hands of someone who wants to give it up, or the lost ruin you want to explore may be inhabited by someone who isn't friendly. So they need people like you with more practical talents. But whatever your particular focus, you are expected to respect your fellow agents and the three tenets of the Society - Report. Explore. Co-operate." Tells them everything they need to know to enjoy a game within the space of one attention span.
Back when we had to fill in the numbers on our dice with a wax crayon, and hobgoblins were vaguely Japanese-looking, I experienced my first Edition War, between those who wished to move to the new "Red Box" D&D (who remembers Bargle?) and those for whom such a thing was a Blasphemy that was in violation of All Things True and Good. The difference this time, of couse, is that I am Right, whereas all who disagree with me are Wrong and Misguided.
There are several references to Veshtahz as an unwilling servitor and contemptuous of his mistress, being compelled to serve. So presumably he did something to her bad enough to trigger her wrath, and make her remove his horns and seal him in the underground complex. Betray her to the Song Pharoah, perhaps?
The confusion about day job rolls etc. may come from the way PFS categorizes different adventures. For sanctioned Adventure Paths, you don't get a day job roll. For sanctioned Modules, you do. Even though it is massive, and takes your character up multiple levels, The Emerald Spire is a module, not an Adventure Path, so Day Job rolls are fine.
Will the pdf version be arranged so you can print them out double-sided? (Like the pdf pawn products are?)
I'm obviously playing the wrong scenarios. I usually get something like: "Once per scenario, when adventuring in this obscure region that no-one ever will set another scenario in, you may forgo your dayjob roll and pay 2 prestige points to increase the amount of water you can find with a Survival check by 50%. Only you can drink this water. Cross of this boon once you have used it." When there are +2 INT scores out there!
The key to stopping this going off the rails is to have the Venture Captain at the beginning emphasize that he not sending the group to arrest Jamila or to recover the items, but merely to find out where she has gone. I rationalized this as Jamila maybe having unknown powers or allies, and the VC needs to think carefully about his next move, but wants to locate her before the trail goes cold. Then, have their elemental emmisary mention the fact that the elemental chieftain knows where Jamila is, and who she is working with. This gives the party the hook they need to submit to going through the dungeon, even if they are reluctant to be hailed as prophets, or to get involved in the elemental clan feuds. A previous poster mentioned that there is nothing that the Earth/Water/Fire elementals can offer to match the Air Elementals wanting to 'uncover secrets'. This is a problem, so I tried to play up the idea of the air elementals being a 'rogue splinter group' - if even fire and water elementals can work together in one clan, why are the air elementals off on their own, pursuing their own agenda? Add to this the homicidal nature of air elementals dislike of the oread sorceror, and you can balance the two out - make it clear to the players that they are in the middle of something larger here, without there necessarily being a 'good' side and a 'bad' side. If the group are reluctant to pick a side, remind them that they are not really committing to anything - they know they are not prophets, they can't speak for the Pathfinder Society, and the elemental chieftain has the information they need. They get the info, and maybe open up lines of communication between the elementals and the Society, but anything else is above their paygrade.
Publisher n. (chiefly US) Someone who gets to spam their customers about their weirdo pet projects, like crossover comics or obscure table games.
Ran this yesterday. Giving the PCs a Perception check to notice the Captain quickly hiding a sheet of paper away when the entered her office was enough to shift the players from "The Captain is an a-hole" to "The Captain is a Corrupt A-hole". After that they were on the lookout for clues, and had no qualms about breaking into her office.
I have an inquisitor of Calistria who has tried to combine both aspects of the goddess by setting herself up as a 'protector' of the girls (and boys) who work the streets. She hunts down clients who rob them, or are rough, as well as traffickers, abusive pimps and brothel-keepers etc.
I've gamed in coffee shops (Starbucks and the like, as well as indies), hotel lobbies, airport arrival lounges, mall food courts, city garden squares, pizza restaurants... I've never had any hassle. You get the occasional interested onlooker. You can't object to the occasional interested onlooker and then wax lyrical about attracting new people. They key is to spend a reasonable amount of money. Of course if you are taking up space in a coffee shop, it is reasonable to buy some coffee and a muffin. If you're there for four hours, maybe more than once. If you can afford 20 quid rulebooks and baskets full of minis, you can afford that. The game stores, of course, are not providing you with space to play out of the goodness of their hearts. They want you to buy stuff too. So it sounds like many people are freeloading off the game stores, and that this program is intended to counterbalance that. Maybe I'm just getting old - I expect a certain level of comfort while playing. I'm not willing to put up with uncomfortable chairs, wobbly tables, a single grotty toilet, and a food selection that runs to pizza and Haribo just because the space is 'free' and people there won't look at me funny. While I'm here I'm going to plug the pub I game in. Food all day, child friendly, plenty of space at weekends, no piped music, free wifi, plenty of alcohol and soft drinks, full wheelchair access and centrally located. Been gaming there for years - met new people, never been looked at funny. Any games store would have to be positively palatial to compete.
In light of the new Retailer Incentive PFS program, I'd really like to understand where this obsession with playing in game stores comes from. I understand why it's great for the store - they get a captive audience for the period who will be exposed to their stock, may be incentivized to purchase, and may even pay for the privilege. I understand why it's great for the game publishers - "hey, Mr Store Owner, carry our stock/support our organized play programme, look at the footfall it gets you" But for the life of me I can't understand what's in it for the players. Who wants to spend hours playing games in a shop? I refuse to believe that there are locations out there that are sophisticated enough to have a games stored but not a cafe/pub/hotel etc. within walking distance. Maybe there are fantastic luxurious game shops out there with comfortable chairs, sturdy tables, adequate toilet facilities, a wide selection of hot food and snacks and drinks, table service, wifi, proper disabled access etc. but I have never seen one. Whereas my local cafes and pubs offer exactly that. And as long as you're not being disruptive and spend some money commensurate to the time and space you take up, they don't really care what you get up to. Which is pretty much the same criteria that the games shops would apply. So - sell me. You can choose to play in a cafe, and have all the things I describe above. Or you can cross the street and play in a games store that, on average, won't. So why on earth would you choose the latter?
OK, then let me explain why I think this is too vague. The policy basically says "If you are playing at a retail venue (term undefined) then someone at the venue (who?) may decide that certain purchases count towards this program." So the vagueness comes down to 1) what is a retail venue and 2) who decides? If you are playing in a games store, then this probably works very well. The store owner puts up a sign explaining that all Paizo products, their overpriced sodas and those Clans of Tarkir boosters that they're desperately trying to get rid off all count. No problem. But what if you're playing in, for example, a mall food court? It's definitely a retail venue. But who would have to decide whether purchases from the KFC franchise and the noodle stand count? What about buying clothes from the shops in the mall. Who decides? What if you're playing in a community hall, that has a small cafe. Is it a retail outlet? No, but Tanya's post explicitly says that they want to include these sorts of venues. So is it the community hall manager who decides? The lead volunteer who organizes the cafe, even though you're not playing in the cafe? You play in a branch of Starbucks. It's a retail outlet. They give receipts. You say to the guy behind the counter "can we count our purchases here for the purpose of our game program?" He has no idea what you're talking about but says "OK". Is that good enough? If this were explicitly limited to game stores, then it would be fine and I wouldn't have a problem with it.
Alice runs a home game.
Bob sells Folio to Charlie for 10 dollars. Charlie sells it back to Bob for 10 dollars. They scribble each other receipts. Alice says "all purchases in this venue are valid" Bob and Charlie now have one free healing on request.
What, exactly, does the retailer need to do to make the receipts valid? Do they have to endorse them? Post a policy? Sign up to anything? Because it seems to me that it's up to the GMs to police this - the player just waves a receipt from the venue dated that day - what does the GM need to know about which purchases the venue considers 'qualifying', and how is the GM meant to know this? My lodge plays in a pub, that's part of a national chain. As long as we buy stuff and are not disruptive, then don't really care. There's no way I'm going to get them to endorse a program. But if as a GM, a player shows me a receipt that says "One all day breakfast, a pint of beer and some pork scratchings" can I just say "yeah, that's about right" and give them some free healing?
I've always assumed that the chainmail bikini is in fact glamered armour - proper armour made to look like a chainmail bikini.
The central London, UK lodge will be meeting on Sunday: http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0bml9 We will be running "Dead Man's Debt" and "The Midnight Mauler". All welcome.
"Computer, activate the Emergency Holographic Developer!"
Hehe I have to say, is someone could photoshop together Splatterman and Tatterman on a catamaran it would make my day.
Haunting of Harrowstone brought us the grim Splatterman. Now In Search of Sanity introduces the chilling Tatterman. Presumably future APs will introduce us to the Millinery-themed Hatterman and his charming, silver-tongued companion Flatterman?
I look forward to seeing what comes next. As long as it isn't Downer.
Also, while I like the choice aspect in the "dig the woman out the rubble while things blow away" encounter, I think the DCs are very high, the success conditions steep, and the penalty for failure - a small low level party is almost certain to lose a large chunk of their gold from the adventure - excessively punitive.
If I have a weapon that normally deals nonlethal damage, and it gains a quality that grants it extra dice of damage, is that extra damage also nonlethal? Does a flaming whip deal nonlethal fire damage? More specifically, if I use a whip against someone wearing armour, it normally can't hurt them. What if I use a flaming whip, or a bane whip? Does it hurt them at all? Thanks.
I know - it's not even your first digital subscription - you've got one for the digital copies of the audio plays (are they still going?). But it's nice to have anyway.
Is this...can it be... the long awaited and never expected... PDF subscription?
|