Friday, September 30, 2011

PFRPG Trophy Hunter Fix


Here's my fix for the Trophy Hunter that I will be using in my own games. 

Trophy Hunter (Ranger Archetype)

Armor and Weapon Proficiencies: Trophy Hunters are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, firearms and light armor.

Have Gun will Travel: At 1st level, the Trophy Hunter gains the Gunsmithing feat as a bonus feat. He also gains a battered musket identical to the one gained by the gunslinger. This replaces medium armor proficiency.

Improved Tracking: as the power on page 67 of Ultimate Combat.

Firearm Style: as the power on page 68 of Ultimate Combat.

Hunter’s Aim: as the power on page 68 of Ultimate Combat.

Epic Review - Ultimate Combat part 2.4 (archetypes)

Finalizing the archetypes.

Monk 
To start with, the monk has the worst typoed archetype with the Tetori monk. Somewhere along the line certain feats were removed, the specific feats which the Tetori monk has are required feats. Can't wait to see the remedy for this faux pas.

Flowing Monk
 This is a really interesting archetype.First off they have their own bonus feat list to choose from. The redirection ability replaces stunning fist and is quite powerful, getting better as you level. It allows redirection and trip maneuvers in response to an attack as an immediate action, this in itself makes it better than stunning fist, but it can also make the opponent sickened, and the bonuses increase with level. At 8th they can do both trip and reposition simultaneously; 12th they can even do the maneuvers against someone that attacks them with a reach weapon! Unbalancing counter is great,  the target of a successful attack of opportunity is rendered flat footed until the end of the monk's next turn. Flowing dodge grants a +1 dodge bonus (up to Wis bonus) for each adjacent opponent in lieu of fast movement. Elusive target is an insane ability letting the monk make reflex saves to reduce damage taken when they're hit. Volley Spell uses the diamond body spell resistance to attempt to redirect a spell back to the caster using ki. This is a very MAD monk, moreso than the normal monk, as they rely on CMB, Dex and Wis bonusesto make them effective. Combat Reflexes is almost a given, as is lightning reflexes, improved trip and improved reposition, it's a very focused archetype.

Maneuver Master
The maneuver master gets additional bonus feats to choose from. The Maneuver master starts off by trading flurry of blows for flurry of maneuvers, allowing 1 additional maneuver at 1st level. This increases to 4 total maneuvers at 15th level, but each additional maneuver attempted has increasing penalties. (2@-2, 3@ -3, 4@-7). At 3rd they gain maneuver defense is pretty nice, since others attempting a maneuver on them that they have improved level of training in provokes an AoO. Reliable maneuver allows 1 ki to be spent to roll twice and keep the highest when performing a maneuver. Maneuver Master grants a WIS bonus to a single maneuver type for the turn as a swift action. They get sweeping maneuver at 11th; allowing them to make two combat maneuvers without penalty either 2 maneuvers against 2 opponents or 2 different maneuvers against a single opponent. Finally at level 15 they get Whirlwind Maneuver, once per day they can make a single combat maneuver against every opponent they threaten. A rune giant performing a trip against everyone in 20 feet is hilarious to me!!!

Martial Artist
The martial artist is the dip archetype, allowing any alignment, but at the loss of several ki related abilities. Errata will be coming on this class as they still have access to a ki related ability but no ki pool. So if you ever wanted to play a Barbarian/Monk, this is how you can do it.

Master of Many Styles
The Master of Many Styles is one of the most interesting monk archetypes, gaining bonus feats at 1st, 2nd and every four thereafter which can be used for style feats. These feats replace the normal monk feats, but ignore the normal requirements (except for elemental fist). Fuse allows them to maintain 2 or more feat stances, but at the cost of Flurry of Blows. at 20, the Master of Many Styles can maintain 5 stances.

Sensei
The Sensei is a mix of bard and monk, gaining bardic performance instead of flurry, fast movement and improved evasion. At 2nd, they can use WIS instead of STR or DEX on attacks or CMB (replaces evasion and a bonus feat. Mystic Wisdom seems to have an issue as it allows the Sensei to grant abilities they lose as part of the archetype. This replaces bonus feats at 6th, 12th and 18th. I personally feel a Sensei should be a PrC instead of an archetype, as a Sensei is a master, you shouldn't be a 1st level master.

Sohei
This isn't one of my favorites, but if you like mounted combatants, this might be the monk for you. They differ from standard monks in the weapon and armor choices, gaining simple and martial weapon and light armor proficiency; however they still appear to gain WIS and AC Bonus of normal monks (this seems like something they should have used as a replacement). They can choose mounted feats in addition to normal feats for their bonus feats. They gain Monastic Mount in lieu of both fast movement and increased unarmed damage. They gain Ki Weapon and weapon training.

Tetori
This is the largest error in the book. It has required bonus feats that aren't in the book, it happens, just wish it had been caught before print, it's a pretty decent archetype. It gives up flurry for graceful grapple, making him a grapple monster, able to threaten while grappling, even retaining their Dex bonus. Then it improves with grab at 8th and constrict at 15th. The ability is a bit broken as it gets more powerful the same as some other archetypes, but only has to give up flurry of blows. Other archetypes don't get as much for what they receive. Inescapable Grasp replaces several abilities, at 9th, he can now suppress freedom of movement effects, at 13th dimensional anchor and at 17th his unarmed strikes gain ghost touch and incoporeal creatures gain the grappled condition (Reflex save). At 13th He gains form lock which can negate a polymorph effect. At 19th he gains Iron Body, a ki ability duplicating the spell. Once the archetype is errataed, it can be quite the spoiler class for game masters.

Paladin
Divine Hunter
The antithesis of the classic OG Paladin, killing from range...not only do they use ranged weaponry more often than melee weaponry, they grant their powers to allies.They gain precise shot in lieu of Heavy Armor Proficiency at first level. At 3rd level they replace Aura of Courage, with shared precision, in which they share precise shot with their allies. At 5th level they gain Divine Bond but it must be with a ranged or thrown weapon, they swap defending and disruption with distance, returning and seeking abilities. aDistance Mercy at 6th lets them use mercy powers at 5ft/paladin level. Aura of Care at 8th level makes allies not block targets with ranged attacks. At 11th, Hunter's Blessing let's the paladin expend a use of smite evil to grant allies within 10ft Deadly Aim, Precise Shot and Improved Precise Shot, instead of Aura of Justice. Finally at 14th Righteous Hunter makes his and his allies weapon good aligned for overcoming DR. Pretty interesting, though I would tend to think of Elven Paladins being divine hunters rather than other races.

Empyreal Knight
I really like the concept around this one, but I was surprised there wasn't an anti-paladin Infernal Knight archetype, especially with the Knight of the Sepulcher being in this book. It starts off slow, replacing divine grace with the ability to read and write celestial. Celestial Heart makes up for it, replacing mercy you get celestial resistances 5 at 3rd, +4 racial save vs poison at 6th, 9th resistances improve to 10, and at 12th immunity to petrification. 15th grants truespeech as tongues, and 18th gives a magic aura that acts as a magic circle against evil. Celestial Ally replaces channel, allowing the Empyreal knight to summon celestial allies as the summon monster I, improving every 2 levels by the next spell level. Divine bond is really nice, granting the celestial template at 8th, and fly at 12, as the mount sprouts wings. Empyreal Champion at 20, transforms the knight into an outsider. All in all, if you want to play a truly goody goody paladin, that has more selfish abilities, this one is pretty nice. I think I want to make a tiefling one!


Holy gun
The archetype that puts firearms into the hands of the holiest of holies, delivering smites by the bullet! The Holy Gun gains firearm proficiency and simple/martial weapons, but only light armor proficiency. "Have Gun" the holy gun gains gunsmithing and amateur gunslinger at first in addition to a battered gun exactly like a gunslingers. At 2nd they gain access to an exclusive deed, Smiting shot, more powerful because it grants smite at range, but more limited in that it's grit powered. At 5th level they form their Divine Bond with their firearm, similar to the Divine Hunter. 13th level brings Holy Grit, this brings the holy smite up in power level as they now gain grit equal to charisma, and they gain a gunfighter deed at 13, 14, 17 and 20. the Capstone is Holy Slinger, allowing the firearm to deliver banishment, just as the holy champion does with their weapon.

Holy Tactician
The Holy Tactician is a group buff paladin, Weal's Champion let's her give competence bonuses to her allies after they successfully hit with a smite evil attempt. At 3rd and every 4 levels, Tactical Acumen grants a bonus teamwork feat; Also they get Battlefield presence, which allows the Holy Tactician to share their teamwork feat with allies (nice ability, since teamwork feats can be difficult [read annoying] to coordinate). The Holy Tactician can Guide the Battle, granting allies a bonus 5 ft move. At 11th, Weal's Wrath allows those affected by Weal's Champion to maintain the bonuses until each creature hit by the smite is slain. The capstone, Masterful Presence, grants, a second tactician feat to the his allies, and grants automatic confirmation on critical threats.   [Note: In my campaigns, the Unholy Tactician will be making an appearance] 

Knight of the Sepulcher
ANTI-PALADIN ARCHETYPE!!! We need more of these! This is a pretty cool archetype, especially if you want to create a "death knight" type of character.  Touch of the Crypt transform the Knight into a partially undead creature, light fortification, bonuses against mind-affecting, poisons and death effects. In addition to being affected by positive/negative energy as undead. At 8th, instead of Aura of Despair, they gain Fortitude of the Crypt, granting darkvision 60ft and immunity to poison. 10th level brings Cloak of the Crypt, and immunity to energy drain and harmful negative energy effects, and 50% fortification. Will of the Crypt increases the saves to +4 at 11th level. 14th brings Weapons of Sin, making the Knight of the Sepulcher's weapon's evil aligned for purposes of overcoming DR. 15th level brings the Knight closer to undeath, Heavy Fortification, immunity to sleep, death effects, stunning and paralysis, he no longer sleeps, and exhaustion causes fatigue, while fatigue effects he's immune to. 17th brings him closer to undeath, DR good and bludgeon. The capstone brings undeath.

Sacred Shield
Think...Prince Charming in Sleeping Beauty, when he's fighting Malificent as the dragon, his shield protecting him from dragon fire. The Sacred Shield's bond is to his shield rather than to a weapon or mount. Bastion of Good at 1st replaces smite evil and causes the evil-doer to cause half damage to the paladins allies, however they do full damage to the paladin, but they gain a scaled deflection bonus. Holy Shield at 4th allows the Paladin to shield adjacent allies as well. Their divine Bond at 5th, is with a shield. Improved Bastion increases the range to 20ft. Perfect Bastion adds a regeneration effect to Bastion.

Ranger
The Ranger archetypes as a whole are pretty weak, the only one with real potential is the deep walker and that's primarily as an NPC.

Battle Scout
A party buff ranger, at the cost of their favored enemies., starting at 4th, their hunter's bond must be with their companions. At 5th this allows Advantageous Terrain, by studying the terrain they can gain bonuses within their favored terrain. At 10th they can gain a temporary favored terrain. Superior tactics lets them arrange their allies initiative rolls. The capstone is lackluster; increasing the range of Advantageous Terrain and saving two whole rounds. The problem with this class is "once per day"; two of their abilities are only usable once per day....

Deep Walker
Great archetype if you're playing an underdark campaign, and it you have underdark denizens that are rangers, there's no point in NOT taking this archetype. Deep Knowledge at 3rd level, the deep walker swaps the normal favored terrain, gaining +2 on intiative, Dungeoneering, perception, stealth and survival underground, Improving +3 every 5 levels. At 5th Woodland Stride is replaced by Rock Hopper, ignoring underground difficult terrain, and +5 on acrobatics and climbing in those tones. Deep Walker Camouflage replaces the normal camouflage, and One with the Stone is the equivalent to hide in plain sight.

Falconer
The falconer is intersting, in so far as it grants some cool extras available to only the Falconer. You just have to get past 1st level, as you get a druid pet (bird only) but it only has half hit points until 4th level, when the ranger normally gets hunter's bond. They also get two exclusive tricks at 1st level, roam and distract. At 4th, Hunter's Bond, his companion gains full hit points. Swoop for the Kill at 6th brings another trick, swooping charge which for some reason doubles the damage of its bite instead of claws, and increases the critical to x4, and staggers the target, replacing the combat style.

Trophy Hunter
This is supposed to be the Ranger blackpowder class, but due to the way it's constructed, I can't see it being used unless it's as a multi-class dip. The archetype doesn't grant a weapon at the start, nor does it grant gunsmithing, rangers are supposed to be more self-sufficient, this archetype is horrible.

Warden
I can't see EVER taking this archetype, it is far too focused, giving up their favored enemies for additional terrains. It's very specialized around terrain, though it's an extremely under powered choice.

Wild Stalker
A hybrid of ranger and barbarian, at 1st, gaining low light vision and bonuses to perception instead of the 1st favored enemy. At 2nd they gain uncanny dodge instead of a combat style. Rage of the Wild swaps with hunter's bond. They gain rage powers which replace the other favored enemies. The 6th level power seems to have a typo, as it should have replaced the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th combat styles, rather than the favored enemies which were replaced by the Rage powers at 5th.

Up next! Rogue & Wizard 
Sorry but due to real life and the sheer amount of information, this has to be split again, especially since the rogue info includes the new talents.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Savage Fallout Blogspot

Since I just restarted playing Fallout, (an annual event) this is a nice coincidence, another link from the Savage Worlds YahooGroup.

http://savagefallout.blogspot.com/ 
Welcome to Savage Fallout Hi Fallout and Savage Worlds fans,

Here you can find everything pertaining to my Fallout conversion for Savage Worlds and session summaries of my ongoing campaign.
Have fun and see you in the Wasteland! 


So not only does he give a synopsis of the game in progress (nice lengthy one too), he offers up his info in PDF for. Very nice!  I'll be downloading these today! So if you've thought of running Fallout in Savage Worlds, or if you're just a fan of either, check it out!


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

RPG Resource

So, in the Savage Worlds yahoogroup, someone posted Nal's Workshop link. This is someone who produces the models from Hirst Art's molds. Something I was thinking about doing at one time, pretty cool.

If you're not familiar with the Hirst Arts molds, here are some of the pictures of them

Also check out their "How" page

Here are some of the Egyptian molds with samples of what can be made with them:










I haven't personally used these, though I would love to!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

BOARDGAME REVIEW - FURT!

This is a review of the boardgame Party game, "FURT!" by WiggityBang Games:

FURT – Ages 13 & up / 3-8 players / 60 minutes to play

FURT is a befuzzling eruption of laughter in a box. It is a party game that defies logic and a reasonable explanation. You have to play to understand and when you do, you’ll laugh until your sides ache.
In this game players race to be the first INTO the mouth of a fiery volcano by completing actions from the six wacky-packed FURT categories. You might be making up outrageous lies about yourself. Freshening up with a quick shower in your host’s bathroom. Or acting out the words ‘butter patty.’

Perfect for: game nights, girls’ nights, family get-togethers, road trips to Vegas, frozen winter evenings in the Midwest, lazy days poolside, high school detention, prison riots, peace treaty talks, jury duty and any other gathering that could use a good laugh.

Availability: FURT is now available online and through select retailers.



Main Review: This is a great party game, we were laughing almost non-stop, the HotSpot spots were one of the most hilarious as we were constantly yelling out what the spots indicated. The game played quickly and we had a blast.

This is a turn based game. A color coded die is rolled, blue indicates one of the secret cards, which are pretty fun, though it would be better if the food related ones weren't in the deck, as it limits the number of places where the game can be played using the entire ruleset. The other colors indicate what part of the FURT! category card you read from.

BLUE this is the secret "What the?!" category, this can be a bluff, as you can say you completed the card, but others can challenge it. They can be really fun, or really annoying, or annoyingly fun.

BLACK the Volcano Has Spoken. This is a simple, read, then move (forward or backward)

RED is the straight-faced challenge. 30 seconds of trying to keep a straight face while verbally assaulted with the words from the volcano.

GREEN The Guess what challenge is really fun, you take from 1-3 funny words, then can either ACT, TALK or DRAW.

PURPLE Truth or Fiction, using the "example" question. Such as, "The last time I was at the airport I...." You have a truth/fiction token you hide the answer and reveal after everyone has guessed.


YELLOW "You are" This is one of my personal favorite categories, I particularly enjoyed being a Soccer Mom, explaining how Toe Jam and Doubloons helped save the day!

The final phase is the Volcano. Where you must survive the Straight Faced challenge. If you don't win, the others get to double move until they get to the Volcano as well.

Ages: The game is stated for 13+, the boys are about 12 and they played it fine. There are definitely things in here which are for more adult oriented minds.

Cost: This game retails for $29.95, pretty typical cost for a similar game.

The Verdict: For pure laughs this game is worth the money, though the "funny words" aren't die-cut, that doesn't matter as much, so this game is EPIC! Fun with a capital FURT!

Epic Sean says: "This was absolutely insanely awesome!"

Epic Ian says: "It's an awesome game, hardly anyone can keep a straight face!"

(Disclaimer: This game was provided for review)

Friday, September 23, 2011

standby for Ultimate Combat review 2.4 archetypes

Writing up the review on the final 5 class archetypes, lots to write.

In other news. In addition to being a gamer dad I also have to be a normal dad, and enact punishments when needed, thus we missed the Gameratti Tour at Pair-a-Dice last night. Being a good dad takes precedence over being a gamer dad.

Edit: This has been split into two posts. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

FURT!

So, we received our first "for review" game, Matt Rivaldi of WiggityBang games sent us a review copy of FURT. It looks like an hilarious game from the word GO!  If you're not familiar with WiggityBang! games, they're a local game company, the creators of Quelf.

Now to read the rules so we can play it and review it this weekend!

FURT - A Befuzzling Eruption of Laughter

Here's what you get!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Paizo Spell Generator

http://www.theGM.org/

OK, nice new tool for me!! J.J. Thacker, AKA Perram has created a wonderful online tool for generating spell cards. The options to print in 3x5, 4x6, 4 to a sheet or 9 to a sheet is very nice, and should work for everyone's printing needs. I especially enjoy the black and white option, for printer friendly printing!

It has a nice interface with lots of options.

These are what some of the druid spells look like when using the "runes" setting
I know I'll get lots of use out of this resource now that we're in organized play with Pathfinder Society!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Store Spotlight!!! Pair-a-dice Games PICTURES!!!

So we took a trip over the new store...WOW! The place is amazing. From the polished concrete entry, with Pair-a-Dice logo on the floor to the game room, Rob has created an amazing space for gamers. Don't forget there's also a rentable RPG room....with kitchenette...

You need to see it to understand!


This is the view you get as you walk in....
 The Front Desk
 still stocking up...looking down toward the GW stuff.
 collectibles corner
  Looking down the aisles...
 Looking down the aisles...
 New Chess display cases...
 The Game Room...lots of space
 The miniature terrain storage area....the shelves above nearly go to the ceiling!
 The RPG Table!! Only thing nicer would have been "The Sultan" maybe one day
Looking into the (Semi) Private RPG Room

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Epic Review - Ultimate Combat part 2.3 (archetypes)

Continuing the review of the archetypes of Ultimate Combat.

Gunslinger


Gun Tank - The gun tank is the heavy armor gunslinger, Dwarves in Stone Plate come to mind. They gain heavy armor and tower shield proficiency. They have two gun tank alternate deeds, Gun Tank Resolve (1st level) and Gun Tank Resilience (15th level). They gain Bullet Deflection and Armor Training in lieu of nimble and the bonus feats gunslingers normally receive.

Musket Master - The musket master is a specialist in two handed firearms, they only gain proficiency in the two handed firearms, and must use feats to gain other firearm proficiencies.. They are masters of the quick reload with Rapid reload as a bonus feat at 1st level, and a 3rd level deed called Fast Musket, which allows a 2 handed firearm to be reloaded as a one handed firearm. They gain Musket Training instead of Firearm training.

Mysterious Stranger - A Charisma based gunslinger, excellent for multiclassed bards or sorcerers.  The focused aim deed at 1st granting them CHA damage bonus to their damage for grit.

Pistolero - The Pistolero is the one handed specialist, the counter to the Musket Master. Pistol training, instead of firearm training, and three of their own deeds, making them deadly shootists.


Inquisitor


Inquisitions - These are alternates to normal domains. The first is the the Blackpowder Inquisistion, which obviously, grants gunsmithing and Exotic Proficiency (Firearms); and spellcasters hit must save or suffer Concentration penalties. (Not too bad, but not PFS legal unfortunately, so no Soloman Kane in PFS games).
The second is the Spellkiller, which gains Disruptive, and a bunch of bonuses.

Spellbreaker - With multiple types of bonuses, and spell breaking abilities that stack with Disruptive, this can be a powerful combination is combined with the Spellkiller Inquisition! As a capstone they gain immunity to 1 entire school of arcane magic, even granting the same spell immunity to all allies within 60 feet once per day, that can come in pretty handy, at the cost of Final Judgement, is it worth it? Perhaps, but sounds like a fun combo to try.

With Hunter - Ah the classic with hunter, complete with spell scent. Like the Witch Smeller Puissant, from Black Adder! They're adept at spellcraft, gaining their WIS as a bonus to identify spells, items and to decipher scrolls. Knowledgeable defense gives them bonuses to save versus identified spells. Their 14th level bane ability causes AC and save penalties against arcane casters.


Magus


19 new arcana begin the Magus entry with a bang.  Here's a quick summary:
Arcane Strike 9th (resolve all attacks as touch for the round) 2 pts
Arcane Cloak +INT stealth/bluff to hide checks. 1pt
Arcane Edge 9th INT bleed damage. 1pt
Arcane Redoubt Shield bonus affects touch AC also 1pt
-greater Shield bonus to REF saves, 1pt evasion 2pts, greater evasion 4pts
Bane Blade 1 add'l pt, add bane to weapon [This is an EXTREMELY good ability] 15th
Devoted Blade 1 add'l pt add alignment dmg  12th
Disruptive as the feat 6th
Enduring Blade 1 add'l pt, duration of arcane point powers becomes 1minute/level  6th
Ghost Blade 1 add'l pt, ghost touch obviously
Lingering Pain damage becomes lingering, forcing harder concentration to cast on the next rd; 1pt  (This is a great idea to add to wound rules if so inclined.)
Pool Strike, Arcing pool strike affects add'l enemies 1pt 12th
Pool Strike,Clinging pool strike does add'l half dmg following rd 9th 1pt
Pool Strike,Thunderous 1pt 6th pool strike deals sonic dmg & deafens 1 target....strange...should affect an area..
Prescient attack  1pt 6th immediate action after hitting to deny dex bonus to target until next rd.
Prescient Defense 1pt 9th immediate action after hitting to gain INT bonus to AC/REF.
Rod Mastery similar to wand mastery
Rod Wielder add INT bonus to break spell resistance.
Spellbreaker as the feat. 9th

The one Magus archetype continues the Asian themed alternates with the Kensai, or Sword Saint. Another archetype that drops a spell per level, this one also loses the armor spellcasting in favor of the duellist prestige class ability Canny Defense. They gain proficiency in all simple weapons plus a martial or exotic weapon of choice (how many people would actually choose a martial? In fact most I'm sure will choose the Katana.) Whether the increased combat abilities (Weapon Focus, Perfect Strike, Fighter training, and other abilities) can make up for the lack of BAB is an interesting question, I might actually try this one out soon.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Store Spotlight!!! Pair-a-dice Games MOVING....TODAY!!!

Well I had hoped to get to Pair-a-dice today to get some pictures of the move, unfortunately life intervened and prevented such a photographic opportunity...So...Tomorrow or Wednesday I will head over and get pics of the brand new store!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic

WOW! WOW WOW! We picked this up at Game Towne yesterday.

I'll be doing a full review of this supplement later, but for now, all I have to say is this is better than Ultimate Magic. Shadowcasters, Winter Witches, and Tattooed Sorcerers! So many Archetypes that are awesome! This book is chock full of crunch, I think it's the crunchiest book Paizo has done even.

Though I feel the Vampire Hunter (inquisitor archetype) should have been in Ultimate Magic it's a great book.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Spoilers! Serpent's Skull AP

So By now everyone knows about the power outtage on Thursday...How many of you played Pathfinder in the dark? We took that time to play some more of Sean's Serpent Skull AP. That was fun, Undead Ningyo can't climb cliffs very well!!!  Even when one made it to the top we didn't let it up with us, and we used the height to our advantage! The second of the two never made it up the cliff...silly things...

Friday, September 9, 2011

Old School Gamma World

OoOoO  I was reading through some new (to me) RPG Blogs and came across http://kellri.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, Kellri appears to be gone on the blog (last post in 2009). But he left some fun stuff on the blog for some Old School Gamma World, and other games (though some of the links have died...) Here's a list of his downloads, though I'm not going to hotlink his links, visit his site.  So if you see soemthing cool, grab it before it's gone.


  • CDD#1 Statblock Reference.pdf

  • CDD#2 - Spells Reference.pdf

  • CDD#3 - Dungeon Geomorphs.pdf

  • CDD#4 - Encounters Reference.pdf

  • Old School Gamer's Puzzles.pdf

  • Old School Reading List 2008.pdf

  • GW_Scavenger's Field Guide.pdf

  • GW Wild in the Streets.pdf

  • GW Mutant Manual II.pdf

  • GW Underwater Gear

  • GW 100 Events

  • GW Cryptic Alliance Form

  • GW_Settlement Record Sheet

  • GW Random Settlement Generation

  • GW Equipment Spreadsheet

  • Weird Science.pdf

  • Scifi City Blocks.pdf

  • Fasa Trek Timeline v1.pdf

  • Fasa Trek Worlds.pdf

  • Fasa Trek WhosWho.pdf

  • WFRP Cathay.pdf

  • Thursday, September 8, 2011

    Did you win?

    So I'm reading the last blog post from Dwarf & Basilisk  wherein he goes on about growing up geek. The shame of being a D&D player...skulking about the shadows of society. The motherly (and in other blogs of I've read....Fatherly), question of "did you win?" comes up often. In my case, my step-dad who suffered from unmedicated bi-polarism, decided he'd give it a go, if I could answer any question he came up with from the books. So in true "HAVE TO WIN" fashion he came up with a question on hearing through a door while wearing a helmet. To which I failed my answer, thus crushing my opportunity of Role-Playing with my father figure. This is the same person who never played against me in Chess after the ONE time I finally beat him. Like I said "HAVE TO WIN".

    Anyway...That's one of the reasons I'm doing this blog, these are different times, geek culture has bled into mainstream, just look at how Comic Con has grown, and all the cinematic adaptations of comic books there are (though many are bad adaptations). Famous actors, even sports figures get their geek on and bring it into the open. From Felecia Day, to Vin Diesel, Wil Wheaton and that baseball star. Whether it's WoW or D&D or Everquest, creative minds are expanding the world view of what it is to be famous and a geek.

    I want to interview these people, I want to bring their stories out for everyone to read, to inspire kids to not be afraid of being geek. Geeks run the world...screw it, get your geek on in public!!!

    I don't want my kids to be embarrassed by what they enjoy doing. Unfortunately they're in Middle School, so there's plenty of jerk kids who will attempt to do so. One kid last year stated "D&D is Gay!". Now the boys are starting the gaming club at school, so they'll be synonymous with geekdom. I just want them to be proud of who they are and what they do.

    Epic Review - Ultimate Combat Part 2.2 (archetypes)

    Wherein I continue the review of the new archetypes in Ultimate Combat. 



    Fighters
    With TEN archetypes and new expanded weapon groups there's a lot of new toys for what used to be the most boring class in 3rd edition.

    The Armor Master, is truly the master of defense, replacing his weapon mastery with increased defensive abilities, a deflection bonus to AC while using a shield, increased damage resistance which scales with level, up to 12/- at 19th level while wearing heavy armor. He gains fortification, up to moderate fortification, at 13th level. The capstone grants complete immunity to criticals and sneak attacks, similar to the 3.5 heavy fortification.

    The Brawler  is a very interesting archetype. Granting bonuses to bull rush, drag, and reposition maneuvers (though it does not grant the improved versions) and defenses. At 3rd level the get a nice +1TH/+3 dmg with close weapons, this includes the new scizore a 1d10 dmg close weapon; this increases up to +3/+7 at 19th. It also includes spiked armor, which would make for an extremely effective grappler. They also are very threatening to opponents, and at 9th level making it hard to escape their threatened squares without injury. 

    The Cad is the just that, a dirty fighter, using dirty tactics and the dirty fighting maneuver. They only gain proficiency in light armor and normal shields. They also gain access to some additional class skills (acrobatics, bluff, escape artist, sleight of hand and stealth). They make an interesting alternate thug class. The Razor Sharp Chair Leg feat from beta returns as an alternate fighter ability for the Cad. 

    The Dragoon is a mounted fighter that is the master of the spear and lance. They gain Mounted Combat and Skill Focus (ride) at first level in lieu of the standard bonus fighter feat. Instead of weapon mastery they gain bonuses with the spear group. which gains +1TH/+2DMG up to +4/+8 at 17th level; devastating on a critical, charge or brace. They also gain the banner ability as a cavalier, which replaces weapon training 2-4.

    The Gladiator is designed for the new Combat Performance rules. There's not much benefit if you're not using those rules. 

    The Tactician is the skilled fighter, gaining 4+int/level and several class skills (Diplomacy, Knowledge (geography/nobility), Linguistics, and Sense Motive) for the cost of heavy armor, tower shields AND their bonus feat. It's too much taxation for those abilities. That kills the entire archetype for me. It should be one or the other, but that's effectively 3 feats lost. 

    Thunderstriker is pure gain, at the cost of armor training, they can use a buckler and a two handed weapon at the same time. Even using two weapon fighting! Combine this with the Shield Mastery feats and you're creating a monster. 

    Tower Shield Specialist; horrible name, good archetype. For ultimate defense behind the iron wall, replacing bravery allows the TWS to hide behind his shield even against "burst" spells. Eventually the TWS, gains a shield bonus to touch attacks, no attack penalties while using a tower shield evasion, and improved evasion.


    Unarmed Fighter This is it, the non-monk hand fighter, a hybrid of the monk and fighter classes, able t use light armor, and all monk weapons. They gain Improved Unarmed Strike AND a non-prerequisite style feat instead of the normal bonus feat at first.  That's pretty tough. The Unarmed fighter doesn't get access to ki, or the monks other abilities, but he does get a bunch of niche maneuver abilities, which can make his quite dangerous in close. Sucker Punch is fun, get in close to an opponent denied Dex (say from being grappled), and the Unarmed Fighter gets a free trip or dirty fighter maneuver as a swift action. Talk about a fun magekiller.


    Unbreakable is kind of a bit of an oxymoron, getting two feats for 1 at first, Die Hard and Endurance in lieu of the Fighter Bonus Feat. An improvement over bravery, as it affects all mind affecting saves rather than just fear. He gains Heroic Recovery and Heroic Defiance as he levels, and eventually will become inmmune to mind affecting affects. (This will be nice for BBEGs!!!)


    Stay Tuned for the Gunslinger, Inquisitor and Magus Archetype EPIC coverage next.






    Wednesday, September 7, 2011

    Gear Up Issue 4


    I downloaded the Free GEAR UP #4 PDF by DreamPod9 from Drive-thru RPG.

    I'm looking through it and I see something quite interesting...Heavy Gear ARENA. I liked the Heavy Gear rules more than Battletech, as I grew up with Battletech, but the games always took so long and usually came down to a lucky head shot rather than tactics. But I did like the Mechwarrior Arena Rules, they were fun. Now, Heavy Gear ARENA...I'd be really intere
    sted in seeing how well it plays.

    In the issue I also saw their new heavy tank, The Overlord. The Thing is HUGE. But for $125 (Canadian) it should be huge. Pretty nice model though.

    I wonder if I could find someone in San Diego that is playing it.






    Monday, September 5, 2011

    Serpent Skull progress

    We continued play under Sean this weekend. During our exploration we came across the "Golden Bow", We had our first taste of inexperienced GM...Sean thought that 6 skeletons would be too easy for 2 characters so he switched them out with Lacedons, which of course could have been disastrous, luckily Sean didn't quite understand how multiple attacks worked. so we avoided a first level party wipe!! My T-Rex did almost get taken down, but we ganged up on them, and the 3 paralysis rolls we had to make we all made.

    So we had a 30 second day...since I had to use my heals on my dino. But it was fun, since I know how close to TPK we were (especially since we had left the others at the camp on the hill.)

    EDIT: Oh and Sean was being quite descriptive in his game mastering, I was quite impressed.

    Friday, September 2, 2011

    Not much going on today...SPOILERS!!!

    Not a lot going on today, so I'll just talk about Sean's first Game Mastering. Sean is learning how to GM. He's running Serpent's Skull for Ian and I.

    I'm playing a Saurian Druid with a Medium T-Rex companion. Ian is playing a Zen Archer.

    So far we've had the encounter on the beach, My Dino Druid killed both the scorps on the beach. When we went to the ship we made quick work of the scorp on there, gathered all the supplies and have now set up camp 1 about 4 miles south of the Jenni.

    Sean isn't doing too bad for his first adventure, it's a pregen adventure so that makes it fairly easy. Trying to get him to read everything to be fully prepared. He's doing a decent job with the rules though.

    I really enjoy letting him try to run the game, so I get to play.

    Thursday, September 1, 2011

    RPG NEWS! Gaming Club

    So, Epic Sean and Epic Ian are in the process of setting up an EPIC! gaming club at their middle school. I hope it works out and I hope people cruise by and check it out. The Vice Principal is already on board with it, and of course Mr. Schmid will be their teacher contact for the club. Details to follow as it happens!

    News! Pair-a-dice move!

    So Pair-a-dice games is finally ready to start their move! September 12th is the day they're moving. We should be there to take a few snaps of the move as it happens, it's going to be pretty sweet. When the move happens; Pathfinder Society should be coming to North County.

    Rob went all out with the store, not only is it now HUGE, it's fancy too!