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Is anyone else thinking that Hell's Vengeance is gonna be a knockoff Way of the Wicked?
Okay, okay. That's not exactly fair. It's gonna be way better than WotW. But still, there already is an adventurepath for the Pathfinder RPG where you play an evil follower of Asmodeus. Was it that hard to think of another deity to write an AP around?
New mats from UltraPro. Mats and card decks.
Characters for the set: Non-major race iconic: Sylph. Elemental tie. 3 occult adventures iconics will be in the set. From the fiction: character
If possible, can you elaborate on those two things? Any indication of what they mean by card decks? Was it more deck boxes? And what is that about a fiction character in the set?
Thanks for posting this info and letting those of us not there experience the banquet vicariously.
Hi Hawkmoon269! I'm a first time responder (to you), but a long time fan (of your posts and insight into the ACG).
Anyhoot, apologies for the vagueness of the items, the banquet can be loud (beer drunks), confusing (beer), and hard to see (beer goggles). Let me try to 'esplain:
UltraPro is vowing to unleash a few new card mats for ACG play in the future. Secondly, they have some new deck boxes (for holding your ACG decks and whatnot).
Verdigris says the fictional character Varien Jaggiere and bodyguard Radavan. I trust her on such things. Probably for the MMask.
Also, a Slyph will be one of the iconics in the MMask, probably with an Occult class. I hope that clarifies things. Anything else?
That clarifies perfectly. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.
l discovered your posts from the banquet last year, so this is actually my second year following along with you. Nice to see the con started off with the card game.
Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
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Painlord and Sara Bull (on Facebook) you both have my thanks for posting the reveals from the banquet as I was, unable to go this year. Lots of great updates to read as I wake up this morning.
Yesterday, after a bit of rushing, got in another ACG scenario from this new season.
Well, off to see what Tanis has in store for me this morning and a final once through for tonight's special. Happy Gaming!!
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Is anyone else thinking that Hell's Vengeance is gonna be a knockoff Way of the Wicked?
Okay, okay. That's not exactly fair. It's gonna be way better than WotW. But still, there already is an adventurepath for the Pathfinder RPG where you play an evil follower of Asmodeus. Was it that hard to think of another deity to write an AP around?
I'm pretty sure the AP is about Cheliax, not about Asmodeus.
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ooofff, apparently the big meal and heavy marketing did something to my brain. I tried playing? No, that's not right, muddling through, the card game with a number of excellent yahoos after the dinner but could not focus.
The number and quality of errors was comical.
But that shouldn't detract from the well done products Paizo laid down on us. Looks like some cool stuff in the coming year, some I like, some I was less interested in, one made me laugh - but everyone has their own taste so I think their books and games will do well, and I like me a strong Paizo.
One thing I didn't hear though, probably because it's not sexy and doesn't come in a physical form. Nothing about web site support - particularly in the Play by Post arena.
Of course I didn't expect it to be mentioned really, but we're a growing group in our own right and I really hope they do more for us that provide the strikeout option in the coming year. Like other things they do, I want to find a way to throw money at them to get better products, but they seem to have little interest in my segment of gaming.
Will that change? The cynic in me says yes no... but maybe I just need my coffee.
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
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One thing I didn't hear though, probably because it's not sexy and doesn't come in a physical form. Nothing about web site support - particularly in the Play by Post arena.
Of course I didn't expect it to be mentioned really, but we're a growing group in our own right and I really hope they do more for us that provide the strikeout option in the coming year. Like other things they do, I want to find a way to throw money at them to get better products, but they seem to have little interest in my segment of gaming.
Will that change? The cynic in me says
yesno... but maybe I just need my coffee.
Painlord posted a bunch about that upthread. Sounds like Paizo is paying a ton of attention to it, from what he posted.
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Painlord posted a bunch about that upthread. Sounds like Paizo is paying a ton of attention to it, from what he posted.One thing I didn't hear though, probably because it's not sexy and doesn't come in a physical form. Nothing about web site support - particularly in the Play by Post arena.
Of course I didn't expect it to be mentioned really, but we're a growing group in our own right and I really hope they do more for us that provide the strikeout option in the coming year. Like other things they do, I want to find a way to throw money at them to get better products, but they seem to have little interest in my segment of gaming.
Will that change? The cynic in me says
yesno... but maybe I just need my coffee.
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Well they are doing some lovely things with their online game but that's not the same thing. Totally different group I think.
Ah yes I was there at that seminar. But I didn't hear anything new from Paizo. Just promoting the concept, not anything new.
In fact when I pointed out that in the last four years all they've added is the strike-through they had nothing to add. The panel simply asked what we wanted as far as improvements - a good first step to be sure, but it seemed clear it was a first step (though I could of course be wrong!).
Everything else has been 'look at the new shiny thing we're doing'. Which is, as I said, GREAT. I just want it all I guess. :)
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Edit: Please tell me that thing about the Rusty Dragon mini set case incentive is a joke.Why? It's pretty awesome.
Because it's a case incentive and I personally prefer some cool monster that they'd otherwise not make that pops up occasionally, and not a big dungeon dressing. There are a number of Gargantuan monsters that would make great case incentives that are getting skipped in favor of this. While I think it's thematic for a set called "Rusty Dragon Inn," it's not something I see being very useful as a mimiature. It's underwhelming.
Maybe it is awesome. I'll reserve final judgement until I see it, but it's going to have to be really impressive for me to not eBay it.
-Skeld
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Euan: I would imagine that a big problem is that any play-by-post platform that isn't free won't get a large enough number of participants to be worth checking out over the free options. It's a classic chicken-egg problem.
That being said, I imagine that Roll20 is in a good position to add in asynchronous-play features. I think what you're looking for would be better accomplished by a VTT rather than by a bulletin board.
Speaking of... Whatever happened to the Gamespace VTT? Wasn't that thing positioned to make tons of money selling licensed AP content?
-Matt
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<This>, from 02 February 2015, is the last official word on Gamespace:
Not dead, just throughly backburnered.
But it's been that way for a while. See <this> post from 06 May 2014:
It's been way more than a year. Thanks for your patience, the project is NOT dead. Development is now paused while we fix the process that led to the delay.
... So I think we're pretty clearly in the land of "I'll believe it when I see it." Which is disappointing; I was excited for Gamespace. But, priorities and limited resources, I suppose.
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Good morning all. Got to bed at 1:30am ish, and awoke happily at 7am ish this morning. I'm back at the ACG WotR Card guild tables this morning. I have played and finished the first 3 scenarios of the WotR card guild with Lem, we are in the process of finishing the last two this morning.
In other news...
I managed to rofflestomp speak kindly with John Compton and he graciously offered me his notes from the last night's trivia contest.
Paizo Staff & Lore:
1. For two years running, a team consisting of Erik Mona, Stephan R-McF, Jessica Price, & JB has competed in a charity even at the Mox Boarding House in order to win what trophy?
2. Each year Paizo runs RPG Superstar. Each year a panel of Paizo staff and guest judges critique the entries and select our next superstar. Name three current P employees who have judged the RPGSS for the last two years.
3. Each P product has an alphanumeric code (like PZ09439 SKU number) found near the barcode. The first two numbers designate the product type and send two numbers designate the product number. Place the following three products in ascending order of their SKU numbers: Pathfinder #55: Wormwood Mutiny, Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Guide, Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
4. In April 2015, James Jacobs' six year campaign Sands of the Scorpion God concluded, as commemorated in a blog on paizo.com. Name one of the players and that player's character that participated in that campaign.
5. Paizo didn't start with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game; it already published board games, magazines, and more before the Rise of the Runelords launched in 2007. In what year was Paizo founded.
Pathfinder Rules:
1. Pathfinder next hardcover book is called Occult Adventures, which includes 6 new classes. Name them.
2. Begin with the number of classes in the Core Rulebook, then multiply that by the number of classes in the APG. Divide the result by the combined number of classes and alternate classes in Ultimate Combat. Finally, add that number to the market price (in gp) of a +1 club. What is the result.
3. During a typical three player session of the Pathfinder ACG, how many turns would would each player take before running out of time?
4. The Bestiary includes two simple creature templates used for creatures touched by good or evil planes. In Bestiary 2, two more simple templates appear that can make a creature more lawful or chaos aligned. Name all 4 of these templates.
5. Valeros is on guard duty in a house with no windows and a locked, strong wooden door. To his discredit, he has fallen asleep as a trio of invisible stalkers creeps up on the house and hail begins to fall from the sky. Taken aback, the invisible stalkers squabble and begin fighting with one another once they are 55 feet away. Based on these conditions, what is the DC of the Perception check that Valeros must make in order to perceive the pitched battle...and presumable wake up?
Pathfinder Adventures
1. Numeria is a land of savage technology influenced heavily by an immense starship that crashed there millennia ago. It is also the focus of the Iron Gods Adventure Path, which answers many questions about the ship's purpose and origins. What is the original name of this starship, the largest remnant of which is known by the locals as Silver Mount?
2. In the three-part series of Pathfinder Society scenarios Scions of the Sky Key, the PCs travel to Sargava in search of Nantambu's venture-captain. What is his name?
3. Trunau - the town where the Giantslayer Adventure Path begins - is built upon a tall mound. What is the name of this geographic feature in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains?
4. The module Tears at Bitter Manor begins in which coastal city also featured in Pathfinder Campaign Settings: Cities of Golarion?
5. One monster with Aquatic and Elite traits has appeared in each of the three Pathfinder Adventure Card Game base sets published to date. What is this creature drawn from Australian Aboriginal legends?
Pathfinder Campaign Setting:
1. Array the following islands by latitude from north to south: Valkus Island, Flintyreach, the Isle of Kortos, Stonespire Island, & Hermea.
2. The planetts of Damiar and Iovo are today known as what?
3. The Inner Sea region is bordered by two major continents: Avistan & Garund. However, the Inner Sea World Guide refers to six other continents. Name three.
4. Like most gods, Calistra makes her home on one of the outer planes. On what plane is Calistria's realm?
5. Dozens of wars have rocked the Inner Sea region. Place the following four wars in order based on when they began, from first to last: the Oath Wars, The Everwar, Goblinblood wars, the First Five Kings War.
Pathfinder Characters:
1. In the Pathfinder Tales novels Death's Heretic & The Redemption Engine, the main character Salim Ghadafar once lived in Rahadoum but now serves which god?
2. In Pathfinder Module: Plunder & Peril, it is her treasure that the PCs seek. In the Pathfinder Society ACG adventure Lost at Sea it is she who leads a mutiny and pressgangs teh PCs. Name this pirate captain infamous for her clockwork arm.
3. Each of the recently released Pathfinder Battle: Iconic Heroes sets includes 5 iconic characters as well as one creature such as an animal companion. Name the three companion creatures that appear in the first 3 Iconic Heroes sets.
4. The Add-on Deck adds four additional characters to the seven included in the base set of the Pathfinder ACG. Name three of the four additional character included in the WotR add-on deck.
5. The Pathfinder Comics follow the story of six iconic characters. The six-issue Pathfinder Origins series explores these characters backstories, during which each of the six teams up with a guest iconic. Five of these guest characters have never appeared in the comics before, but one appeared much earlier during the Dark Water Rising arc. Name that character.
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Here's my attempt at the trivia questions. I swear I didn't look anything up!
Paizo Staff & Lore
1. The Gauntlet
2. Adam Daigle, James Jacobs, John Compton
3. Core Rulebook, Wormwood Mutiny, Inner Sea Guide (educated guess)
4. Jason Bulhman, Velmarius
5. 2003
Pathfinder Rules:
1. Mesmerist, Kineticist, Occultist, Medium, Spiritualist, Psychic
2. 11*6=66/3=22+2150=2172
3. 10 (30/3)
4. Celestial, Fiendish, Entropic, Axiomatic?
5. 55 feet = -5, through a wall is -10, sleeping is -10, total -25
Pathfinder Adventures:
1. (Don't know this)
2. Neiford Sharrowsmith
3. Plateau?
4. Cassomir
5. Bunyip
Pathfinder Campaign Setting:
1. Stonespire Island, Flintyreach, Isle of Kortos, Hermea, Valkus Island(educated guess, don't know this)
2. The Diaspora (I'm guessing on this - I think those are the planets that blew up to became the asteroid field, and iirc that's called the Diaspora)
3. Arcadia, Tian Xia, (gah, can't come up with a third)
4. (And I forget what the CN plane is called)
5. Everwar, Oath Wars, First Five Kings War, Goblinblood Wars (definitely last - verterans of that war are still alive (gaspar!), guessing on the other three - only other one I've heard of was the everwar)
Pathfinder Characters:
1. Pharasma
2. Jemma Redlcaw
3. Biter, Droogami, Padrig
4. Adowyn, Shardra, Crowe
5. Lem? (honestly don't know this one)
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I'll take a stab at this...
1a) The Gauntlet! Starting off easy...
2) John Compton, Adam Daigle, James Jacobs
3) These are already tougher... CRB, Inner Sea Guide, Wormwood mutiny?
4) Erik Mona = Ostog the Unslain
5) lemme scroll down to the bottom of the page... 2002?
1b) occultist, spiritualist, medium, psychic, kineticist, mesmerist
2) 2322
3) 10
4) celestial, fiendish, entropic (?), resolute (?)
5) I could look it up, but that would kind of defeat the purpose so ... 0?
1c)
2) Nieford Sharrowsmith
3)
4) Cassomir
5) Bunyip?
1d) okay, these are pretty tough now... Hermea, Valkus, Stonespire, Kortos, Flintysomething
2) no clue
3) Tien Xia, Arcadia, and Casmaron
4) i'm gussing one of the nicer places...
5) no clue,
1e) Pharasma?
2) Gemma Redclaw
3) Droogami, Biter, and Padrig
4) Seoni, Adowyn, Crowe?
5) Lini
Well, it could have been worse.
So, it looks like you hadn't played much of skull and shackles before this weekend. And it seems you've now got a fair amount of card game time in with both S&S and WotR, so which one are you liking more?
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Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
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Morning was a blast!! Played WotR ACG with Tanis and a few others she knows (sorry, I am really bad with names. Finally conquered the elusive Scenario 1-1A and got to 1D before having to grab lunch. Ran into some of the Pullman crew (Great to see you guys again!!).
Getting ready for the special tonight. Should be a lot of fun!!
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So, it looks like you hadn't played much of skull and shackles before this weekend. And it seems you've now got a fair amount of card game time in with both S&S and WotR, so which one are you liking more?
Comments on the WotR Card Guild:
In the litte experience that I have with the class decks are highlighted and worse with WotR. For instance the limitations on card choices for card builds make it much more difficult to enjoy the game.
And the core problem is choice: I don't have the choice of how I build my Lem. I can't customize to my style or what I want my Lem to do. I don't have much if any flexibility.
For example...I'm playing Lem. The base Lem gets 4 spells. Starting at B basic, only two of which are combat spells (inflict and lightning touch). Lem starts with one B weapon. So...I have 3 options out of my 15/16 cards win a combat...and 2/3 of them are spells (I know I can gravedig them).
There were many encounters, including most of the Villians in 1-1e, that require two combats checks. It would be rare to have the tools to combat them, but even harder to ask my allies to help poor resources into letting me pound face with d4s.
However, WotR has a lot of demons...and demons (and other monsters) are immune to electricity, so that even if I thought I could explore and have a combat...no, my lightning touch is useless. And I don't have another spell to choose from/substitute in.
We know the class decks were probably designed with RotR (or maybe even some of the S&S) sensibility, but it's really frustrating to have no options.
Thankfully, in July/Sept/Oct, there will be new release class decks that may offer more flexibility and options.
This is matter of lack of choice. It bothers me that I don't have options. I'm sure there are many other players (who may not have the experience I have) and so they don't know what they are missing. (Like if they haven't played Lem through RotR and didn't realize that Lem can pretty much play solo and rock stuff, then they don't realize how limited the class deck Lem is.)
Right now, you can find ways to get things done. I certainly had fun, but we also had far more discussion about what we wanted and couldn't do and wondering why I had to have this card in my hand.
Also, the class decks have significantly less healing resources...and some of the new barriers do NOT have that in mind. There were numerous times when things happen. Because things happen. And healing is rare, at basic, in the class decks.
The lack of healing is highlighted when some of the game turning barriers hit. The Arboreal Blight barrier (unavoidable, everyone summons and fights a Fiendish Tree...the Fiendish Tree auto damages 1 on entry and 1 again after). We had a game where we were sailing...we hit the Arboreal Blight and we struggled to succeed.
* * *
However, the standalone WotR seems to be very interesting, the new characters have neat mechanics. I had the opportunity to play the Adv 1, Scenario 1 (The Fall of Kenabres) with Imrijka (Inquis), Seelah, Adowyn (Hunter), & Crowe (Bloodrager). That was a very different and fun experience.
* * *TL;DR:
So...liking WotR, still have issues with the class decks for the Card Guild.
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Ah yeah...the Serpent's Rise Special.
I'm going to avoid spoilers. So far, this event is just too cool to want to ruin anything if it will be run again. I'll be speaking in general terms mostly, and spoiling even the slightest stuff that might be spoilery.
So far, given the energy in the room, the assembled Aspis teams are pretty excited about kicking some pathetic Pathfinder backsides. (I think it's well known we are playing pregen lvl 7 Aspis C members.) We're going to make them weep, wishing that Grandmaster Torch and Adril Hestram were still in charge.
I get the feeling that the tables really like the theme. There is already a lot of 'dark' talk at our table, figuring out how many quickrunner shirts we can buy as Aspis agents.
The pregens are pretty cool, lots of the new classes and some dark themes. Mine is pretty 'out there' and doesn't even have a name: just a number. Each of the characters has a name and a 'designation' which is a nice touch. These Aspis pros don't have meaningless classes fighter or wizard, but true designations like "The Vengeful" or "The Leader" or the like.
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Ah yeah...the Serpent's Rise Special.
I'm going to avoid spoilers. So far, this event is just too cool to want to ruin anything if it will be run again. I'll be speaking in general terms mostly, and spoiling even the slightest stuff that might be spoilery.
So far, given the energy in the room, the assembled Aspis teams are pretty excited about kicking some pathetic Pathfinder backsides. (I think it's well known we are playing pregen lvl 6Aspis C members.) We're going to make them weep, wishing that Grandmaster Torch and Adril Hestram were still in charge.
I get the feeling that the tables really like the theme. There is already a lot of 'dark' talk at our table, figuring out how many quickrunner shirts we can buy as Aspis agents.
The pregens are pretty cool, lots of the new classes and some dark themes. Mine is pretty 'out there' and doesn't even have a name: just a number. Each of the characters has a name and a 'designation' which is a nice touch. These Aspis pros don't have meaningless classes fighter or wizard, but true designations like "The Vengeful" or "The Leader" or the like.
It will be run again at Gen Con on Sunday morning, followed by a designation of a 4/5 star exclusive for at least a year.
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Ah piddlespot. Just had a jaw dropping realization, but one that was probably pretty obvious: we, as Aspis agents, are setting up all the piddlespotting chaos that the Packminders had to clean up in Friday's special.
One of my missions is to do the thing that I hated fighting against a few nights ago. Because I am a loyal snake, I do it willingly and revel in the suffering that it cause.
I am forced to work cooperatively with another agent to accomplish what will cause much terror. I think it goes well enough. I think. I hope.
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I buy our GM a beer: Andrew Christian. Other heroic Aspis agents include longtime board yahoo Mr. Slanky, Euan, VL Dan Wilson (Canada BC), Matt & Ron.
I have never played with AChristian before, but was delighted to have him as my GM. I had heard that he rocked in the Special 2 days ago and wanted my own chance to play with him. His style is clear and fun, he's willing to roll with chaos 'alternate ideas', and is quick to smile.
From looking around the room, the 30+ tables are having a good time. Tables are animated and alive. There is a bar in the room that has a selection of local beers, both tap and bottle.
Side note: this hotel is a far superior option than the previous location. *Much* better food options, and the hotel breakfastorium has kickin' coffee (better than the internal Starbucks) and a buffett. This room is much quieter than previous specials. +1.
Our first encounter. The VL next to me comments that he plays a <blank> at home and admires the build he has been given. He crits and one shots on his first attack.
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I feel like such a Pathfinder right now. We were given limited information and told to connect dots on using an item in no way that made sense.
Is this what those terrible "Venture Captains" do to their fodder? If so, it's strange they haven't rebelled so far.
They did. It was called year of the shadow lodge.
Then we got a union rep who promised everything would be better.
And it got a little better. Then he left.
Hmmm... I think we need to start the cycle again...
SHADOWLODGE FOR LIFE!
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I buy our GM a beer: Andrew Christian. Other heroic Aspis agents include longtime board yahoo Mr. Slanky, Euan, VL Dan Wilson (Canada BC), Matt & Ron.
I have never played with AChristian before, but was delighted to have him as my GM. I had heard that he rocked in the Special 2 days ago and wanted my own chance to play with him. His style is clear and fun, he's willing to roll with
chaos'alternate ideas', and is quick to smile.From looking around the room, the 30+ tables are having a good time. Tables are animated and alive. There is a bar in the room that has a selection of local beers, both tap and bottle.
Side note: this hotel is a far superior option than the previous location. *Much* better food options, and the hotel breakfastorium has kickin' coffee (better than the internal Starbucks) and a buffett. This room is much quieter than previous specials. +1.
Our first encounter. The VL next to me comments that he plays a <blank> at home and admires the build he has been given. He crits and one shots on his first attack.
This was with out a doubt one of the best games I have played in in the last 25 years I have been playing RPG games. Andrew Christian proved that he is a 5 star GM by doing a excellent job. The players we where with provided a range of experience and where a blast to play with. The special had a great story and was a great challenge, there was a few typos and unclear parts which Andrew was able to get arround. The pregens where fierce and well balanced and had interesting stories and I love the special guest.
Beware the Hafling from hell (or at least Celliax)
PS I am actually a VC now I just haven't gotten the red shirts, I know more nitpicking. ☺
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That was a good entertaining special. I had fun at the same time I had to think different. I like things that stretch our confines and make us look at things again.
Pros:
- Good purpose. (I knew what I was supposed to do...and wanted to do it.)
- Fun to be the bad guy.
- Characters themselves were done well. Lots of flavor.
- In general, the builds were good and effective.
- The tie ins to the previous Special were great.
- Good 'faction' missions...(see below).
- Creative magic items. Every yahoo had fun, unique stuff to use.
- We felt non-harried/rushed in this Special. It was nice not to be too rushed.
Cons:
- New players may have a hard time with mechanics of the classes.
- A few of the faction mission were difficult to read. (font issues)
- Needed a bit more time to decide and discuss characters.
- Faction missions could have been more clear.
*=Obv. no spoilers there. Lots of classes require some learning curve.
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Painlord, thank you for taking the time to type up the trivia questions for everyone so we could all play along at home.
Answers coming soon. Was going to do them this morning, but Tanis sat down to play with us as we play Adv 1, Scenario 2 (Under the Broken City).
My plans kind of changed when she wanted to sit down and jabber, answer questions, and game with us. More later, as this is pretty awesome.
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Thank you for joining us Tanis!! It was a real pleasure, and you took the edge off the lord's pain. :)
Had a great time playing the card game. It's clear the designers have put in a lot if effort to this game. Don't always agree with their choices, but I respect that they were consciously made. The game 'fits' together well.
Off to learn about cartography.
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The "Serpent's Rise" special was awesome. A couple of my friends were sad because the table was terrible. (Rules being made up, absolutely zero RP from the GM, every room was the same generic box with a hallway coming in, overall utterly uninspired GMing.)
My table, however, was awesome. In an interesting twist of randomness, three of the players where players I had had at my table for the special on Friday night! So, several back references were made. Everyone in the group played their characters well and really seemed to be into it. There was a time partway through that called for a rousing speech and a rousing speech was made by the appropriate party. I just felt really bad because one of the players failed his secondary success condition, even though he was working on it and trying... alas, he didn't quite do the thing he was supposed to do. Part of me thinks afterwards that given what he did do, I should have rewarded creative solutions.... But, the faction briefing did sort of telegraph what ought to have been done. Ah, well.
Am thinking that the Artist's secondary mission would be quite difficult to accomplish in online games, as it does depend somewhat on expected table talk and so forth. Especially if people are doing things by "whispering" to the GM (as you generally can do one way or another in most online platforms), it could seriously hamper that one secondary success conditions.
A very cool set of characters, though, and a very cool scenario.
I had another fun table of Wounded Wisp this morning, and another table where none of the six had played this scenario before. With a mystery/follow-the-clues scenario like this one, it really is a lot of fun to play with a table who don't know what's coming. Yeah, most of us are at least halfway decent at separating character and player knowledge, but part of the fun in scenarios like this one is the *player* figuring things out. (I'm a little sad that I was never able to play Wounded Wisp before the first time I ran it.) There were a few players who were quite into the roleplaying and bonding with NPCs that were sympatico with their characters, and that not only helped get some of the world lore out (part of the point of Wounded Wisp), but also made for a fun table.
Overall, PaizoCon was a great experience. The one issue is that it's simply impossible to get enough sleep if you're taking full advantage of the Con by playing games and doing things in all three slots every day....
And, now, to see if anything random and pickup happens for the Monday afternoon games before my (ugh) midnight flight out tonight.
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Ever notice how mornings happen all at once and usually before you've had coffee? Someone should fix that.
* * *
I still love last night's Serpent's Rise special this morning. So it wasn't just the beer and excitement.
* * *
Last night, we played scenario 1 of adventure 1 of the WotR AP. We failed the first scenario once but then succeeded the second time. The first scenario highlighted the learning curve of WotR. Admittedly, we probably would have been better served if we, you know, read the freakin' cards better, more, and with some brainpower.
We (Euan, Verdigris, Rich Flynn) were able to play both scenarios 2 and 3 of Adventure 1 of the Wrath of the Rigtheous AP with Tanis in the morning. One of our number prefered to play the RotR version of Kyra rather than the WotR version of Kyra. This lead to some interesting discussion (of which Tanis was completely fine with). The player wanted Kyra's RotR healing. By design, there is very little healing in WotR and the player wanted to heal.
It was great to have Tanis at the table, especially as we built our decks and could ask and confirm questions as we did. Tanis is just wonderful and fun and happy to hear questions and respond to discussion points. During our build time, I spoke to her a bit about the ACG spoilered stuff above and she responded positively and with understanding. She believes the future class deck releases will alleviate my concerns.
Rich: Adowyn (Hunter)
Euan: Imrijka (Inquisitor)
Painlord: Balazar (Summoner)
Verdigris: Kyra
Tanis: Shadra (Shaman)
I *really* liked Balazar after playing him twice. The first time, I completely misbuilt him (as I was jabbering at Tanis), putting a bunch of spells that I could use, but couldn't use properly. Despite that, Balz and his battle chicken (Padrig his cohort/eidolon) were a blast to play. This card game summoner is not nearly as annoying as the Pathfinder summoner. I rebuilt after the scenario and had a good time.
Rich, playing the Hunter, quickly moved like green slime to achieve character mastery...completely making her job harder on herself by ignoring on of her primary abilities. Once we realized that issue, things began to open up.
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Painlord, thank you for taking the time to type up the trivia questions for everyone so we could all play along at home.
:)
1. The Gauntlet
2. James Jacobs, JBulmahn, MMoreland, Adam Daigle, Liz Courts, John Compton, Crystal Frasier
3. Core Rulebook (PZO1110), PF#55 Wormwood (PZO9055), ISWG (PZO9226)
4. James Sutter (Kirin the Heretic), Erik Mona (Ostog the Unslain), Wes Schneider (Styrian Kindler), Jason Bulmahn (Velmarius Elazarin), SKR (Vorn), Christopher Carey (Zandu Vorcyon), Rob McCreary (Thalestris), & Tim Nightengale (Howell Talbot III)
5. 2002
6. Kineticist, Medium, Mesmerist, Occultist, Psyhic, & Spiritualist
7. 2322 (11x6/3+2300)
8. 10 rounds
9. Celestial, Entropic, Fiendish, & Resolute
10. DC 10 (-10 for pitched battle, +5 distance, +10 sleeping, +5 through a door, no effect for weather)
11. Divinity (also accept Destiny because of typo)
12. VC Nieford Sharrowsmith
13. Bloodmarch Hill
14. Cassomir
15. Bunyip
16. Flintyreach (Ironbound Archipelago), Hermea, Isle of Kortos, Stonespire Island, Valkus Island
17. The Diaspora
18. Arcadia, Azlant, Casmaron, Crown of the World, Sarusan, Tian Xia
19. Elysium
20. The First 5 Kings War (1571), the Oath Wars (2498), Everwar (4305), Goblinblood Wars (4697)
21. Pharasma
22. Jemma Redclaw
23. Droogami, Biter, Padrig
24. Adowyn, Crowe, Seoni, Shardra
25. Lini (in Issue #4)
Tie Breakers:
1. According to the ISWG, Golarion's history can be divided into 8 ages. Name as many of these ages as possible in the order in which they occurred.
2. Chapter 4 of the Pathfinder Unchained introduces esoteric material components variant, which allows one to fuel spellcasting with 5 different special components. Name as many as you can.
3. The appendix of the Monster Codex presents class templates that allow one to apply a simple template to a creature to grant it several abilities from a core class. The amount by which these adjust a creature's CR varies; some are CR+2 or +3, others are CR +1 or +2. Name three class templates that increase a creature's CR by +2 or +3 (but not +1).
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Thanks again for all the reporting and for your personal insight into the card game.
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DAY 3 (SUNDAY)
-Skipped my AM slot; needed to sleep. :/
-Future of Pathfinder panel was a great rundown of upcoming product with more detail on some of the books. Super excited for the Vigilante class. Someone brought up it could be used to make a superhero/sentai team (Sailor Moon, for example, as was brought).
-Obsidian & Pathfinder panel. Discussion of the ACG video game Obsidian is working on. Good back and forth; excited to see this come out!
-Did two delves, one with James Sutter & some Hell Cows. Ezren and Kyra survived; Merisiel and Valeros will be remembered. No, seriously. There are skeleton stickers on the Dwarven Forge model right where they died. The second Delve was set in a beautiful Sandpoint model in which goblins laid siege. The iconics emerged victorious!
-Spent some time talking with James Sutter about The Redemption Engine. Seriously, go read this book. If you liked Eberron's take on morality and alignment being murky at times, you'll like it even more. Discussed Carrion Crown with Wesley Schneider. He made some recommendations for the home game I'm running through that my players may hate me for down the road. =D
-Pathfinder Special: Serpents Rise. Really great scenario. The pregens are well thought out and avoid being your "typical" take on a given class or role. Good personalities that are just different enough to play off each other without grating or creating conflict. Challenging encounters, too. Definitely try to get your 4/5 star and VO GMs to run this. You won't be disappointed. Warning: It will spoil the Siege interactive and vice versa, as they take place at he same time. So if you feel partial to how you find out what happens, consider your play order. Either way, I'm looking forward to True Dragons of Absalom and hope we see more special scenarios like this in the future. I'll likely go into more depth later this week.
[b]DAY 4 (MONDAY)[b]
-Last day of the 'con. The usual "running out of steam" vibe dominated.
-Played Returned to the Sky. Lots of tech content (it does take place in Numeria), but with some fun encounters and good metaplot stuff.
-Spent the last couple hours finishing a second Reaper Paint'n'Take Mini. Great Paladin of Sarenrae model that let me play with the gold, orange, yellow, and blue that were available. Good conversation all around. I'm from Texas, so it was great to see the staple Reaper setup we see there at most every gaming convention. Huge thanks to Reaper Bryan and some of his amazing volunteers. They spent the weekend helping lots of folks learn to paint minis or improve their skills.
It was a great PaizoCon. I love the new hotel and definitely plan to try and get a room together at it next year. It was great to get a better mix of panels in with the usual PFS stuff; please continue to spread things out a bit so this is possible!
Because it's a case incentive and I personally prefer some cool monster that they'd otherwise not make that pops up occasionally, and not a big dungeon dressing. There are a number of Gargantuan monsters that would make great case incentives that are getting skipped in favor of this. While I think it's thematic for a set called "Rusty Dragon Inn," it's not something I see being very useful as a mimiature. It's underwhelming.Edit: Please tell me that thing about the Rusty Dragon mini set case incentive is a joke.Why? It's pretty awesome.
Amen Skeld. This is exactly how I feel. There are so few opportunities to see gargantuan monsters made, it seems a shame to replace them with something I can buy from several sources already. :-(
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Ahhh Paizocon, I knew you well...
I'm packing up to leave, and thought I'd post a final thought. This was my first Paizocon, and what a wonderful weekend it was.
A few random thoughts as I prepare for the journey home.
I wish I had attended more seminars.
I couldn't tear myself away from the excellent games, including some with their designers (how cool is that?!), but I wish I had. I signed up for several of the workshops, but only attended two.
Both the Running RPGs Online and Cartography for RPGs were excellent, as I'm sure were the others I skipped. I'd have liked to see more from each, and both talked about splitting to two workshops in the future for even more information exchange. Excellent!
The hotel was GREAT!
The mark of good customer service is not how you avoid problems but how you deal with them when they are before you. The hotel staff, at least from my perspective, excelled in that area. We had a problem with our room at midnight Sunday. I called the front desk, and a repairman, fully trained and very helpful, had the problems solved by 12:15. They even offered to move us to another room - that night - if necessary and the problem was not that severe!
The banquet was what I expected
No glowing praise here though the food was good and the logistics were excellent! We had a wonderful Paizo employee at our table, and he left me wanting more discussion. The speakers were pretty good, but the content was predictable. Don't get me wrong, the new stuff is cool, and I had no idea what was coming, but it was basically a good marketing pitch by Paizo to me. Exactly what I expected, and well done.
Made new friends
I didn't actually exchange numbers/emails with anyone, but putting names to faces from the boards is always a good experience, and will enrich future communications, both on and off the forums. And of course it was great seeing folks I hadn't seen in years.
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Overall the con was a success. I will always compare it to Kublacon, and the raw energy Kubla represents. Paizocon was a wonderful experience and one I will remember fondly for some time - especially when I get a full nights sleep. :)