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In another thread I didn't want threadjack, I got this comment and question:
BTW, was reviewing your work on Advanced Gamemaster Guide published by Green Ronin. Good stuff, especially on speeding up play. Has Genius Games consider a similar supp for Pathfinder?
I'm very proud of the Green Ronin's Advanced GameM aster Guide, and I still get comments about it fairly regularly. (Including "I was going to burn it because you had rules for PCs making artifacts and I knew that was a waste of my time. Then I discovered I loved those rules, and now we use them.")
But since it was designed as a generic d20 GM's aid, there's not much need to update it for Pathfinder. So I doubt GR has much interest in doing a new version. And no matter how much of it is open, I'm not going to undercut GR's position by writing a SGG version that has the same general ideas. (Not that anyone suggested I should).
But that doesn't mean a new 3pp guide for Pathfinder GMs might not be a good idea. I love the GameMaster Guide from Paizo, and it covers a lot of stuff. But I can see how some other things might be useful to have, too.
But the real question is, what kinds of things fans want to see as GM aids from 3pp. So here I ask: Id there anything you'd like to see, as a GM aid or advice, from 3pp?
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But the real question is, what kinds of things fans want to see as GM aids from 3pp. So here I ask: Id there anything you'd like to see, as a GM aid or advice, from 3pp?
Thanks for taking time to responding to my prior post. As to your question:
An in-depth analysis of the differences between the 3.x rules as presented in the SRD and the Pathfinder rules.
Antagonist builds/combinations to challenge the toughest min-maxed parties.
What you REALLY need in developing monsters to fight PCs.
Having multiple opponents fight PCs (and how to do it easily).
Replacing Pathfinder classes with 3PP offerings and how it may affect your game. (Using Genius classes as examples, of course.)
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Awhile ago I posted a thread over on enWorld about a convention just for GMs and while the idea is good it was clearly obvious that it wouldn't work. Now there's a thread similar to it about running a DM Boot Camp to teach people how to be a DM for 4e, but unlike a convention it's a local thing some guys are going to try to increase their judge pool. The general jist of both threads though is teaching players how to become GM's or improve, but what I realized (and I think would be a good product) is that there's no books on how to teach becoming a GM. Basically a product focused on being the senior GM who helps new GMs get started, presenting information similar to the GM Guide but angled toward teaching others instead of self learning. It could be designed along the lines of the DM Boot Camp idea by being offered in a course format with booklets for the students and maybe even quizzes. Course offerings could be Designing an Encounter, Finding Players, Staying Organized, Organizing a Convention, Is it Cheating, etc. Maybe design the courses to be taught in 15 - 30 mins blocks so that a kit might include four courses that could be taught in a two to three hour block. A whole series could be done. You could even do humorous training videos, but that might be taking it a bit far. Anyway just a thought.
But the real question is, what kinds of things fans want to see as GM aids from 3pp. So here I ask: Id there anything you'd like to see, as a GM aid or advice, from 3pp?Thanks for taking time to responding to my prior post. As to your question:
An in-depth analysis of the differences between the 3.x rules as presented in the SRD and the Pathfinder rules.
Antagonist builds/combinations to challenge the toughest min-maxed parties.
What you REALLY need in developing monsters to fight PCs.
Having multiple opponents fight PCs (and how to do it easily).
Replacing Pathfinder classes with 3PP offerings and how it may affect your game. (Using Genius classes as examples, of course.)
Emphasis mine.
I agree with all of these. But I especially agree with the last.
Because 3pp content is not actually collaboratively reviewed (as I understand it) by Paizo and you(the 3pp) for in-game balance and the like; I think it will make Players (and GM's especially) feel more comfortable using 3pp if you have a section dedicated to exploring the impact of 3pp content on a Pathfinder game (or AP).
Things like the ramifications of certain classes in an adventure path. The inclusion of a Godling, how that might change NPC reactions to the players. Some additional information on possible organizations to include into Golarion and where they would fit in.
Tricky spots with any rule variants.
Recommended substitutions and how those substitutions will affect the game (or an encounter).
For example: "If your party needs a harder fight/challenge, instead of throwing 5th level goblin rogues at the party, make them 5th level goblin shadow assassins. This will make the confrontation more head on and give the goblins more varied tactics."
I'm no writer, so I won't elaborate but the book certainly could. Go on to elaborate on how this could impact the encounter, how it could make it more challenging, and how it could set up for future events etc.
Since I feel the most commonly used 3pp content are the classes and the feats, I would definitely spend most of the book talking about how to make sure those are balanced in a pathfinder game.
(Let me be clear when I say balanced I don't mean to imply the 3pp didn't balance them upon creation-- just that Golarion was not made with these things in mind).
I'm glad you guys are considering this. It could do wonders to help make 3pp content more welcomed in Pathfinder games. (Thus more sales! Whoo-hoo!)
I'm sure i mentioned this before, but products containing new monsters ro npcs are always high on my to buy list. Especially NPCs. I still havent converted all my old ones, and new and interesting characters to add to my game world is always a plus.
Something else that I'd like to see is a guide to common dming pitfalls. We see alot of advice in the core rules of what a dm should do. But not as much that looks at some of the common (or uncommon) mistakes and misconceptions we make as dms. How to avoid them, what to do about them if you do. A product that explore that from the experience of a 3pp writer would be very valuable (in my opinion).
I'm sure i mentioned this before, but products containing new monsters ro npcs are always high on my to buy list. Especially NPCs. I still havent converted all my old ones, and new and interesting characters to add to my game world is always a plus.
Something else that I'd like to see is a guide to common dming pitfalls. We see alot of advice in the core rules of what a dm should do. But not as much that looks at some of the common (or uncommon) mistakes and misconceptions we make as dms. How to avoid them, what to do about them if you do. A product that explore that from the experience of a 3pp writer would be very valuable (in my opinion).
Albion Armitage's Astounding Arsenal contains several NPCs, 2 new creatures, a lot of equipment, and several guidelines for adjusting the challenge level of the adventure.
Also, some sort of product or series of products that helped a gm run a pathfinder game in some kind of 'modern' setting. Would be nice. A pathfinder modern product if you will.... <.<
You should have a big [Super genius] tag on this thread!
first let me say the AGMG from GR remains my favortie GM advice guide ever. It has saved my campaigns, and better yet saved a freindship. The Paizo GameMaster Guide is a solid second, and I think these two books give me most of what I need at a Pathfinder GM.
That said, the AGMG has some really neat house rules, and discussions of how they might affect a campaign. I dont really trust either house rules or the discussion anymore, because that's really rule-specific, and the AGMG is a 3.4 product. If GR updated it to PF, I'd buy the next version in a heartbeat. failing that, a book of alternate game rules and their implications would be very cool.
In that field, I'd like to see spell point systems, rules for your archetype packages from Archer Archetypes but with lots and lots more options, alternate ability score/feat/wealth by level progressions, and advice on gritty and low-magic games, and how to balance them with published adventures.
You had some great ideas for running games faster, organization, and mood. I have to believe that since the AGMG hjas come out there are new options, driven by new technologies, that would be worth mentioning, even if you dont want to repeat the same ideas.
I'd also love rules for taboo subjects. Torture, slavery, mindwashing, and sex all come to mind.
I'd like to see a series on adventuring in different environments, that focuses on hazards, conditions, creatures etc. within those regions, but without creating a slew of environment-specific feats, spells, prestige classes, etc.
The idea would be to provide new uses for existing core skills, feats, and maybe suggest creative use of some core spells, for successful adventuring underwater, underground, in hot deserts, high mountain ranges, swamps, etc.
So, not as much a book of additional options as a strategy guide for making what you already have appropriate to different situations.
Separate from the above, I'd like to see a more comprehensive coverage of all things Perception related. It's all very well to say a Half-elf with low-light vision can see twice as well as a Human, but what's the Human baseline? Just what is the DC to spot a fire giant at a distance of 300 yards, at dusk, in lightly wooded hills?
Notice a visible creature 0
Distance to the source, object, or creature +1 DC/10 feet
Unfavorable conditions (fading light) +2 DC
Concealment (partial, given the trees) +5 DC (?)
Size modifier (Stealth penalty) -8 Huge
Modified DC to spot the giant is 89? Absurd.
Ideally, begin with a table that suggests that a Human with normal vision can generally see an object of a given size (Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, etc.) at a distance of "X" -- "Hey, what's that?", and identify that object at a distance of "Y" -- "That's not a horse, that's a cow."
From that baseline, apply modifiers for distance, light conditions, concealment, etc.
Ideally, begin with a table that suggests that a Human with normal vision can generally see an object of a given size (Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, etc.) at a distance of "X" -- "Hey, what's that?", and identify that object at a distance of "Y" -- "That's not a horse, that's a cow."From that baseline, apply modifiers for distance, light conditions, concealment, etc.
I think the old 1st Edition "Wilderness Survival Guide" had some content like this. The core rules tend to be very "dungeon-specific", and giving the city kids who play some help with the "great outdoors" would be good.
On a similar note, while it is all great to know how far the PCs standing next to the lantern can see... sometimes, I want to know just what effects that lantern has for the monsters across the dark cavern. I can see, for example, that a party carrying a lantern is a walking "shoot me" sign for underground missile-using monsters.
There was a 3.0 spell that addressed this a little, in the Dungeon Works (I think that was the title) book from Fantasy Flight Games.
I agree with DG on the type of book I would like to see. A collection of optional rules. I liked the GM and players Green Ronin books for that reason.
+1. To DM's & DG's suggestions.
+1 to advice on integrating GG classes into PF campaigns.I'd also like to suggest, along the GM aid lines, explanations of WHY the optional rules were developed the way they are presented.
For example, in the AGMG:
Class Defense bonus - great topic, good implementation. But there was no explanation (that I can recall) why barbarians & rangers got the best progression or why undead got the poor progression (what, no fast vampires?) or why the chart topped out at +8 while BAB topped out at +20. (Other products using class defense style systems ranged from a +15 max to +13. What design considerations/playtest results drove the printed form?
Explaining those kinds of things help GM's make more informed choices rather than trial-by-playtest.
When I'm fortunate enough to get friends at the game table, I'm there to play. I'm all for optional rules, but I can't really justify "kicking the tires" for 3-6 sessions when I may only be playing 1/month.
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A thought that occured to me tonight going back to what I said about the video series, another option would be Power Point presentations of the different mechanics judges have problems with. You could have a PP showing how area effects or flanking work. Design the series to be presented in order of appearance in the Core book.
A thought that occured to me tonight going back to what I said about the video series, another option would be Power Point presentations of the different mechanics judges have problems with. You could have a PP showing how area effects or flanking work. Design the series to be presented in order of appearance in the Core book.
Grappling, use of Combat Maneuvers (when can you use trip in a series of iterative or multi-weapon attacks, for example), even Cleave and Power Attack could use a few examples. A series of guides showing these in use would be good for resolving points where the wording was unclear or people are just having a hard time visualizing the effects.
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The WOTC D&D 3.5 Magic Item Compendium has a nice set of tables in the back that let a GM randomly generate a complete treasure haul for an encounter, including coinage, gems, jewelry & art objects, and possibly magic items, based on the CR of the encounter.
So for Pathfinder RPG I could use something like that, calibrated to the average treasure values per encounter (Table 12-5) by advancement rate, and keyed to lead to the magic item generation tables in the GameMastery Guide.
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But the real question is, what kinds of things fans want to see as GM aids from 3pp. So here I ask: Id there anything you'd like to see, as a GM aid or advice, from 3pp?
A...compendium of selected Open Source material (e.g., monsters, class abilities like the token system from Iron Heroes, magic system from Thieves' World Player's Manual, etc.) and using them in Pathfinder.
A...compendium of selected Open Source material (e.g., monsters, class abilities like the token system from Iron Heroes, magic system from Thieves' World Player's Manual, etc.) and using them in Pathfinder.
I hate to sound negative, but a compendium of Open Source Material from companies other than ones own has proven to be counter-productive. Books that are nothing but open content of other company's material leads companies to declare that everything is product identity. For example, if another company were to use all of the monsters from my soon to be released monster book, what incentive do I have in releasing any of my future material as open content.
Open Content worked best when a minimum of material is used. The best example is adventures. There a company can come up with their own unique plots and use a single monster or a single spell or etc to enhance the adventure. But if I publish 5 short monster books and then someone else comes out with a hardback compendium of those 5 monster books (and only those 5 books), you better believe that book 6 will contain no open content.
Now mind you if you're talking other systems (including 3.5) from companies that have moved on or are no longer in business (*cough*necromancer*cough) then that is a different story. That's ok.
I would really like aids that help the GM to simplify the game (i.e. tracking encumbrance), speed combat (i.e. do something to track spell durations, or to easily see under a mini the spell(s) effect it has active....etc.) and the overall game experience!
Let us maximize play time!
Thanks,
One of my goals with this project is to utilize the wealth of open game content out there in adventures, but I am keen to hear how I can make the information more presentable and easier to use for GMs.
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Going back to the teaching new players aspect, how about a character class walk through or quick sheet covering maybe the first two to three levels in easy to understand language. It could have sidebars and notes explaining game terminology that often gets questioned along with other things related to the first time playing a specific character class (such as suggestions on what to take beyond first level for each given role of a class).
How about advice about how to deal with non standard races, from the monstrous to the completely wierd? I mean this in context of a published module or adventure path. Say you have an adventure path about stopping an evil godlike wizard from an ancient realm from regaining power (*wink*) and you want to play a Gnoll or goblin, in otherwise a setting full of humans and elves. How would one integrate that? I know what I would adjucate, but newer players and people interested in GM advice might not. So that would be handy.