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So, it turns out getting catapulted over the front of a mini bobcat nose first into the hydraulic arm is NOT as fun as it sounds.
It's been a difficult spring so far, between the computer dying, the car attaching a vacuum hose to my wallet, not being able to work because of the f@#+ing rain, the mini bobcat constantly tipping over because of the soft ground because of the rain, and now this.
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Is there a chance that Paizo's "One adventure path, six parts, several authors, what could go wrong?!" Philosphy is biting them hard here?
I'm much more in line with Orthos: The APs are being written for chaotic PCs, and the authors aren't considering the repercussions of that on players who want to play "good citizens".
I've run or played in several APs that were spectacular in spite of multiple authorship: Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Skull and Shackles all come to mind.
Then I've run or played in terrible ones where it seemed that the authors hadn't communicated at all: Carrion Crown is the shining example of this, but Jade Regent was pretty bad.
Strange Aeons isn't suffering so much from schizophrenic authoring as it is the basic assumption that every party will be perfectly OK with breaking-and-entering to get dirt on someone who they don't even know is dirty yet.
I liked the way Crimson Throne did it multiple times: *IF* the PCs go to the front door, some Bluffing, Diplomacy, or bribery is enough to get them in. Then they can make Perception rolls until they find something that's out-and-out dirty or wrong, and THEN they can initiate combat or what-have-you. Runelords had multiple wonderful examples of, "Kicking in the front door will get you killed."
So I don't mind a roadblock of, "Figure out a way to get past the doorman short of stabbing him in the ribs," because it encourages thought in the PCs.
But adding, "Oh, and there are no other ways in, there is no possibility of influencing the doorman to let you in, breaking in would be highly illegal, and there's no indication of any criminal wrongdoing at the house, the guy just has poor taste in friends," really messes things up for me.
Shiro fixes things like that easily: When my gnome rogue found out she could buy indulgences in an Asmodean city, she promptly bought one for breaking into a house. Any house. Not taking anything. Just breaking in.
Ta da! Problem solved! The Chaotic character can pave the way for the paladin by sneaking in and finding something disreputable for the paladin to have to deal with.
But this is an Abadar city, so indulgences... not so much. So it's, "Break the law or don't go in."
I'm honestly curious as to how my group tonight is going to deal with it. Someone put it really well: "Give your players an impossible situation and marvel as they quickly come up with an easy solution."
Let's hope.
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So, it turns out getting catapulted over the front of a mini bobcat nose first into the hydraulic arm is NOT as fun as it sounds.
It's been a difficult spring so far, between the computer dying, the car attaching a vacuum hose to my wallet, not being able to work because of the f&**ing rain, the mini bobcat constantly tipping over because of the soft ground because of the rain, and now this.
Wow! Are you OK? Nothing broken, I hope?
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I have 11 new stitches, but nothing is broken, no teeth damaged, and no concussion, so not too bad, I guess.
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Lucky man. Hope you feel better soon. >_<
Is there a chance that Paizo's "One adventure path, six parts, several authors, what could go wrong?!" Philosphy is biting them hard here?I'm much more in line with Orthos: The APs are being written for chaotic PCs, and the authors aren't considering the repercussions of that on players who want to play "good citizens".
And if the AP came with a notification in advance of "this is the kind of character we expect to be played in this campaign", that would be okay.
Nobody expects to have a goody two-shoes paladin in Skulls and Shackles because you know it's the pirate campaign.
You shouldn't bring a demon worshiper to Wrath of the Righteous.
You don't play a(n active) Technic League acolyte in Iron Gods.
And so forth.
But Strange Aeons doesn't have anything like that. It's a Cthulhu-themed adventure, but it has no reason - on its surface - to presume a specific style of PC. But the writing seems to think otherwise.
I've run or played in several APs that were spectacular in spite of multiple authorship: Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Skull and Shackles all come to mind.
Then I've run or played in terrible ones where it seemed that the authors hadn't communicated at all: Carrion Crown is the shining example of this, but Jade Regent was pretty bad.
Strange Aeons isn't suffering so much from schizophrenic authoring as it is the basic assumption that every party will be perfectly OK with breaking-and-entering to get dirt on someone who they don't even know is dirty yet.
<etc.>
If nothing else, I am taking these complaints as extensive pre-warning on what not to do in my own to-be-published campaigns. Which I do greatly appreciate.
Is there a chance that Paizo's "One adventure path, six parts, several authors, what could go wrong?!" Philosphy is biting them hard here?I'm much more in line with Orthos: The APs are being written for chaotic PCs, and the authors aren't considering the repercussions of that on players who want to play "good citizens".
I've run or played in several APs that were spectacular in spite of multiple authorship: Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Skull and Shackles all come to mind.
Then I've run or played in terrible ones where it seemed that the authors hadn't communicated at all: Carrion Crown is the shining example of this, but Jade Regent was pretty bad.
Strange Aeons isn't suffering so much from schizophrenic authoring as it is the basic assumption that every party will be perfectly OK with breaking-and-entering to get dirt on someone who they don't even know is dirty yet.
I liked the way Crimson Throne did it multiple times: *IF* the PCs go to the front door, some Bluffing, Diplomacy, or bribery is enough to get them in. Then they can make Perception rolls until they find something that's out-and-out dirty or wrong, and THEN they can initiate combat or what-have-you. Runelords had multiple wonderful examples of, "Kicking in the front door will get you killed."
So I don't mind a roadblock of, "Figure out a way to get past the doorman short of stabbing him in the ribs," because it encourages thought in the PCs.
But adding, "Oh, and there are no other ways in, there is no possibility of influencing the doorman to let you in, breaking in would be highly illegal, and there's no indication of any criminal wrongdoing at the house, the guy just has poor taste in friends," really messes things up for me.
Shiro fixes things like that easily: When my gnome rogue found out she could buy indulgences in an Asmodean city, she promptly bought one for breaking into a house. Any...
if you are an adventurer AND a good citizen, I am going to be suspicious of the character at the very least. That said, I am also suspicious of the AP/setting from what you described as well. I will check out the first two books when possible.
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if you are an adventurer AND a good citizen, I am going to be suspicious of the character at the very least.
So basically anyone who is LG, LN, or NG is automatically suspicious?
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I *loved* the opening setup of Strange Aeons, but I have not been as impressed with the 90 day boat ride.
They did a version of this in Giantslayer as well in Book 3 - made up a somewhat flimsy reason to force level 9-11 characters to not use teleportation or flight to reach their next obvious objective. Giantslayer actively tells the DM to punish the players for using flight in Book 3. They're expected to walk through a huge valley (the map scale is in *miles*) to find their goal. Anyone who gets the bright idea of using flight (and my Giantslayer group has two druids in it) is supposed to be attacked mercilessly in the air and made to think that flying isn't a good way to stay alive.
I actually love the third book, not so much the boat ride but everything else about it is awesome.
It definitely sounds like the boat ride should be shortened up and the Dreamlands section made its own separate thing where it can shine on its own and not be hitched to the weird river timeline.
They did a version of this in Giantslayer as well in Book 3 - made up a somewhat flimsy reason to force level 9-11 characters to not use teleportation or flight to reach their next obvious objective. Giantslayer actively tells the DM to punish the players for using flight in Book 3. They're expected to walk through a huge valley (the map scale is in *miles*) to find their goal. Anyone who gets the bright idea of using flight (and my Giantslayer group has two druids in it) is supposed to be attacked mercilessly in the air and made to think that flying isn't a good way to stay alive.
Yeah I've heard of things like this happening a lot. It feels a lot of times like (some of) the writers just... for lack of better terms... don't know how to handle high level magic in adventures? Especially teleportation, it really feels like a lot of writers just don't remember that teleport spells exist, like, ever.
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I actually love the third book, not so much the boat ride but everything else about it is awesome.
The kids loved it. GothBard, not so much. The multitude of spammed save-or-sucks in the Dreamlands really had her frustrated.
"OK, yeah, you can make me make 15 Fortitude saves and I'll eventually fail one. And then I'm out of the combat. How, exactly, is that fun?!?!"
if you are an adventurer AND a good citizen, I am going to be suspicious of the character at the very least.So basically anyone who is LG, LN, or NG is automatically suspicious?
Depends on how they go about it.
I *loved* the opening setup of Strange Aeons, but I have not been as impressed with the 90 day boat ride.
They did a version of this in Giantslayer as well in Book 3 - made up a somewhat flimsy reason to force level 9-11 characters to not use teleportation or flight to reach their next obvious objective. Giantslayer actively tells the DM to punish the players for using flight in Book 3. They're expected to walk through a huge valley (the map scale is in *miles*) to find their goal. Anyone who gets the bright idea of using flight (and my Giantslayer group has two druids in it) is supposed to be attacked mercilessly in the air and made to think that flying isn't a good way to stay alive.
I remember that.
It is a holdover from characters using flight in Kingmaker. Unwise at best, but every edition of this game, from the very first to the most recent, has had real issues with flight and teleportation that have yet to be addressed.
I actually love the third book, not so much the boat ride but everything else about it is awesome.The kids loved it. GothBard, not so much. The multitude of spammed save-or-sucks in the Dreamlands really had her frustrated.
"OK, yeah, you can make me make 15 Fortitude saves and I'll eventually fail one. And then I'm out of the combat. How, exactly, is that fun?!?!"
as much fun as when players do it to the DM.
Depends on how they go about it.if you are an adventurer AND a good citizen, I am going to be suspicious of the character at the very least.So basically anyone who is LG, LN, or NG is automatically suspicious?
Explain please?
Night John.
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Aren't they all female except the slave breeder ants? Like bees?
Mort's not around so I have to be the one to take the jokes at full face value with no humor implied.
Classic scry and fry tactics. All my high level wizards have contingencies for that stuff. Something simple like lairs in sequestered areas up to specialized spells that reroute teleportation to.. well... less then ideal places.
One of my favorites relocate spots was a room full of explosive runes. Let me just get out my big bag of d6's here. I think the mage had a contingency fire shield all the rest were not left in great shape (pile of dust shape is a shape right?)
Hmm is the ask James one?
I have 11 new stitches, but nothing is broken, no teeth damaged, and no concussion, so not too bad, I guess.You are now the coolest on the playground.
I'm an adult, so doesn't help much.
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Also, we were in the paizo trivia contest at paizocon:
4) The Paizo.com messageboards are a busy place, and as of last night, 3 different threads have 75K or more posts. Name any of these 3 threads.
Ask James Jacobs, FaWtL, and the one about hugging succubi, or maybe the LGBTQ+ gamer's thread.
Edit: definitely not the LGBTQ+ thread, they only have 17,000+ posts, so it's gotta be succubus in a grapple.
DM Cal probably gets a fair amount too. The LGBTQ one has to be one of the biggest.
I thought of the Rise of the Runelords community use thread.
Anyone still buying pf player companions? I wanted your guys (or yalls) opinion on wilderness origin and martial artist handbook.
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Also, we were in the paizo trivia contest at paizocon:
4) The Paizo.com messageboards are a busy place, and as of last night, 3 different threads have 75K or more posts. Name any of these 3 threads.
Ask James Jacobs, FaWtL, and the one about hugging succubi, or maybe the LGBTQ+ gamer's thread.
Edit: definitely not the LGBTQ+ thread, they only have 17,000+ posts, so it's gotta be succubus in a grapple.
Deep 6 FAWTL. Tales of Agartha: the Avalon Chronicles. Ask James Jacobs Anything.
Anyone still buying pf player companions? I wanted your guys (or yalls) opinion on wilderness origin and martial artist handbook.
I haven't bought one in two years or so, I got tired of them republishing everything in the hardcovers.
A moot point with second edition around the corner I know, but whatever.
Deep 6 FAWTL. Tales of Agartha: the Avalon Chronicles. Ask James Jacobs Anything.Also, we were in the paizo trivia contest at paizocon:
4) The Paizo.com messageboards are a busy place, and as of last night, 3 different threads have 75K or more posts. Name any of these 3 threads.
Ask James Jacobs, FaWtL, and the one about hugging succubi, or maybe the LGBTQ+ gamer's thread.
Edit: definitely not the LGBTQ+ thread, they only have 17,000+ posts, so it's gotta be succubus in a grapple.
That Agartha thing is indeed massive, it's been going pretty much since I joined if not longer. Scint and I tried to get involved at one point but just couldn't keep up.
Regarding the discussion on teleportation in games, the description of the spell says "You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the destination." So you can't just say "Take us to the BBEG's lair" if you don't know where it is and what it looks like. That prevents a lot of concern with PCs bamfing past all the guards and such. Yes, you can try to scry on the BBEG and get an idea of where it is, and then teleport, but there's a 25% that the teleport will be off-target. And that's assuming it fails it's save. Also, since teleportation and scrying magics exist, there are counters to them. So someone who is concerned about the possibility of having PCs eavesdrop on them and then portal in will take precautions.
They were thinking about a simple flying recon to find the location, then teleport to just outside the area. But the AP says anyone flying is attacked by drakes. The two druids who turned into birds didn't fare well by themselves.
Anyone still buying pf player companions? I wanted your guys (or yalls) opinion on wilderness origin and martial artist handbook.
I've got them. I don't remember much about Wilderness Origins (is that the one where they updated gathlains and leshys?). I remember liking the Martial Arts Handbook quite a bit. I haven't looked at either one in a while though.
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There are MANY threads discussing scry-n-fry, and the general consensus is that it doesn't work at all, because teleport requires "You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the destination," and scry only gives you "the subject and its surroundings (approximately 10 feet in all directions of the subject)."
So even if you know the BBEG is in the castle right up the hill, and you scry him and see that he's in the "war room", unless you know which floor of the castle the war room is on, you can't teleport there.
(Yes, we spent several hours researching this, and it was very annoying, but in the end it seemed clear to us that scry-n-fry has been an abuse of the rules since teleport and scry were written.)
I have 11 new stitches, but nothing is broken, no teeth damaged, and no concussion, so not too bad, I guess.
Holy shit. How did I miss this?!
Are you healing up okay?
Anyone still buying pf player companions? I wanted your guys (or yalls) opinion on wilderness origin and martial artist handbook.I've got them. I don't remember much about Wilderness Origins (is that the one where they updated gathlains and leshys?). I remember liking the Martial Arts Handbook quite a bit. I haven't looked at either one in a while though.
with that I am working on, I should take a look at that.
Explain please?Depends on how they go about it.if you are an adventurer AND a good citizen, I am going to be suspicious of the character at the very least.So basically anyone who is LG, LN, or NG is automatically suspicious?
its a loooooooong story, but it quite literally involves death(and resurrection), taxes and orphans.
It did lead to some interesting MAD talk, though. But I have not played with that group in a VERY long time.
Speaking of death and resurrection, it's really tiresome to encounter another game where resurrection is commonplace, yet where the authors kill off an NPC in order to motivate the PCs.
The Final Fantasy series is rife with such inconsistencies, but this was Borderlands 2, and was particularly incongruous because we'd seen the NPC in question resurrected dozens of times, but this time it was different because.... why?
If you're going to have *ANY* game where resurrection is a thing, don't use death as a motivator!!!!!
It's really not that hard...