d20pfsrd.com Updates and General Pathfinder Ramblings

d20pfsrd.com
The site is up to 71 collaborators plus myself now. A few collaborators are contributing vastly more than others, which I suppose is to be expected.

Of particular note is McCaul Bagget. This guy is a machine. He has probably spent almost as much time on the site now as I have. Everytime I look he's online fixing one thing or another. Great work McCaul.

Other collaborators of note:

Shadow Lord - The General FAQ and APG Playtest FAQ's are getting a ton of hits and Tim is doing a bang-up job compiling the various rulings and decisions made by the Paizo folks. Great work Tim!

Treantmonk's (honkalac) Guides - These are new additions and seem to be very popular on the Paizo boards. Lot's of people like reading about the best way to make the best spellcasters. Great new addition to the site Treantmonk!

Hailey Martin - Haily is methodically working to convert all of the monsters from the various Adventure Path's pre-PFRPG and her work is quite popular. This is a very happening section of the site at least according to Google Analytics. Lot's of people are linking to these pages and using them in their games it looks like. Great work Haily!

rixius - Rixius is a new recruit and one with some developer/programmer background. He's already demonstrating great value by providing me a Greasemonkey script for Firefox that really helps when editing the site. He has a second version of the Greasemonkey script forthcoming that will help even further by automatically highlighting links that need to be changed. Great ideas and great time-savers. Its good to see there are some folks who can think on their feet and be proactive when it comes to these sorts of things :)

General Information regarding the site
We are still actively testing a tool provided by Google to automatically export and import the site so that we can do site-wide link changes via script. So far the tool has been too scary to use on the real site so we've been testing it on a backup/testing version of the site. Its still too buggy to risk on the main site though unfortunately.

Rant Time
So in this thread James Jacobs reveals that a very major change was done to the summon spells via how the celestial and fiendish templates work. At first he stated the change was intentional until various people remarked how much that totally ganked how things work. The next response was "well you should rule however you think makes sense". I had to exercise a great deal of self-control in my response because I really wanted to go off (which I'm still doing here). It's this sort of thing that just shows that certain changes needed to be thought out a bit more (or playtested?) before getting into the big 500+ page book. Just sayin...

There are many examples of this sort of system change that really should have been discussed and/or tested more. However, it is what it is. I'm hoping an errata will clean a bunch of this crap up.

I guess that's all for now.

d20pfsrd.com Update

News of the Week

New Collaborators
We added three new collaborators this week and they each seem to be taking off very well. Welcome Cindy Hawkins, Jonathan Yeung, and Richard Hunt.

Site Updates:

FAQ
Tim Shadow (ShadowChemosh on Paizo) has been diligently updating the FAQ page even though we have to work around the annoying archiving system on the Paizo boards. Paizo automatically archives old posts and threads after 60 days and then just plain deletes threads and posts after a point. We had made a point of citing the original post from Paizo people where they answered an FAQ-type question but these links frequently break. At this point we're probably going to give up on citing the source with a link and just site who said it. This was, afterall, Tim's original plan since he was aware of the archiving problem before I was.

Link Patrol
We have been diligently fixing broken links or links that point to the PRD when they should point internally. All of the Basic Classes and major "portal" pages (combat, spell lists, etc) should be good but please do report on the messageboards if you run into anything that isn't working quite right.

We've also (well mostly Jonathan and Richard) have been adding new links to places where they didn't exist before, such as linking keywords in feats and spells. This is going to be a long process but at least they've gotten started. These things are not linked at all in the official PRD.

Collaborator Notes and Guidelines
I finally created a Collaborator Notes and Guidelines page with some tips and requests for new collaborators. Previously I was basically typing all of that to each new collaborator in an email each time we got a new one. You'd think I would have learned well before we hit 40 collaborators to maybe just make a page and point people to it but no, I'm slow sometimes.

Misc. Cleanup
I've been cleaning up pages as I come across them. For example, previously we used embedded google spreadsheets for various tabular data but now I am moving away from those towards just standard html tables. This was discussed a lot early on and I wanted to take advantage of some of the cool features of the embedded google spreadsheets but its just turning into more of a pain than its worth. I'll revisit the idea sometime in the future.

There's a ton more little updates but nothing substantially interesting so I'll leave it there!

Orlandian Multiclassing Rules

So I'd like to try go get some feedback on the following two potential multiclass rules methods. The first is much less interesting mechanically to me. It is sort of the same thing as has ever been done before. However, the second method, the "hybrid" method reminds me of 4E's joke of a multiclassing system, but without the joke part, meaning, it seems interesting and possibly usable to me. It seems like it has the potential to generate an incredible array of different characters by allowing a picking and choosing of class abilities.

Note, in order to fully understand this you need to see what I've done with Class Abilities in Castles & Crusades. You can see that here, and then come back and read these two methods, particularly the second one. I'd like any and all comments on either method (or even on the new Class Abilities ideas). I'm specifically looking for input like "that is way too strong and here is why..." or "that is incredibly weak. I would never use that method and here is why..."

So check them out :) http://sites.google.com/site/ccorlandia/class-rewrites/common-abilities

Classic Multiclassing Rules

At 1st level you can choose to have your character advance in two (or three) classes at once, instead of just one. Choose two (or three) classes. Once selected they can not be changed or dropped. When you use this method you are limited by the more strict of the two classes for armor. You may use any weapon that either class allows, unless one class explicitly forbids that weapon. For example, if one class allows you to only use common, simple weapons, and the other allows ALL weapons, you may use all weapons. If one of your two classes specifically said that (for example) swords are forbidden, they would remain banned. Your BtH advances at the rate of the better class. You roll hit points based on the class with the lowest HD but you add +1 to each roll for each size difference in the HD for the class with highest HD. For example, if you were playing a Wizard/Fighter, you would roll 1d4+3 at each level (1d10 for fighters is 3 steps above the 1d4 for wizards). You must have at least a 12 in the Prime Attribute for each class.
You divide all experience earned between each class evenly.

Hybrid Multiclassing Rules

Starting at 3rd level a player can choose to diversify his character a bit. Instead of gaining a new class ability of his Core Class (the class he began play as) he can choose a class ability of any other class that he could ordinarily qualify for (meaning, if a class has alignment requirements which he does not possess he could not choose an ability from that class).
When choosing an ability from another class the character may choose any ability from that class as if he were two levels lower. He must meet any prerequisites or requirements of the ability (lower number N abilities are always prerequisites for their higher numbered versions).
For example, a 3rd level barbarian normally gets Primal Force 2 at 3rd level. He could choose any 1st level ability from basically any other class by not choosing Primal Force 2. He now may not take Primal Force 2 until he would normally gain Primal Force 3, etc. If the barbarian wanted to be more stealthy he could choose Hide from the Archer class. If he wanted to know some things he could choose Legend Lore from the bard list. Perhaps he would like to be able to cast clerical spells. He could choose Spells 1 from the cleric class. If the character was 8th level, becoming 9th level, he could forgo Magic Strike 2 and take Nock Arrow from Archer, or even Spells 4 (assuming he has already made sure to take Spells 1-3, which he could only have gained by giving up Primal Force 2-4). Maybe he wants the Friars Fast Healing ability.

Orlandia Samples

More samples from Orlandia.. 

Here is a list of actions you can perform in combat and what sort of action it is to perform.

List of Combat Actions

In any combat round a character can perform the following special maneuvers or combat options.

ACTIVATE OR USE A MAGIC ITEM

A character may use or activate a magic item that is carried and in-hand. If he has to fetch the item from his pack or other location the act of fetching is his action.

CALLED SHOT

Action: Extended.
Reduce your attack roll by a number not to exceed your BtH modifier and add two times that number to your damage roll. Anyone can attempt a called shot.

CAST/MAINTAIN A SPELL

Action: Usually Extended. Specific spells may state otherwise. Both casting and maintaining a spell require the use of Extended Actions.

CHARGE

Action: Extended.
You must move a distance at least equal to your normal movement (but not more than 2x normal movement) in a straight line. If you do, you may also make an attack. If you hit you deal +2 damage. You also suffer a -4 penalty to your armor class until your next turn. If a you are struck prior to attacking (due to a readied action or an opponent wielding a reach weapon), your movement ends at the point you are struck and you may not make an attack. You can not charge in any sort of difficult terrain or if your visibility is limited for any reason.

COUP DE GRACE

Action: Extended.
You attempt to kill a helpless opponent. An opponent is helpless if it is sleeping, tightly bound, pinned in a grapple or otherwise at your mercy. You automatically hit a helpless opponent and deal maximum damage, add all modifiers for Strength and magic, and  then multiply it by 2. This may be enough to kill a weaker creature outright but stronger creatures may still survive.

DELAY

Action: None but you cannot interrupt another person or creatures initiative. If you wait until another character or creatures turn you take your action after theirs completes.
You choose not to take your action on your initiative. You may take your initiative at any point later in the round. If you delay into the next round you begin your initiative at 10. If you wish to interrupt an enemy you must win a base d10 roll (as if you tied the creature on its initiative roll normally).

DISARM

Action: Extended.
Any class can attempt to disarm an opponent but it is easier for the more combat-oriented classes.
If your BtH is equal to your level -1 (or greater) do the following:
Make an attack against AC 18 + the HD or level of the defender + the defenders dexterity modifier.

For example, a ranger (with a +1 strength modifier and a +1 magic modifier) would need to hit an armor class of 23 to disarm a 5 hit dice creature or 5th level opponent. He has a +4 BtH bonus, +1 for strength, +1 for magic, meaning, he has an overall +6 on his attack roll vs. an armor class of 23. He needs a 17+ to succeed.

If not, then do the following:

Make an attack against armor class 20 + the HD or level of the defender + the defenders dexterity modifier.

For example, a 5th level wizard (with no strength or magic modifiers) would need to hit an armor class of 25 to disarm a 5 hit dice creature or 5th level opponent. He has a +1 BtH bonus so he basically needs a natural 20 to succeed.

DISENGAGE

Action: Extended. You do nothing else in a round besides disengaging from an opponent.

Fighting
Move up to 1/2 your normal movement.
Hasty
Move up to 4x your normal movement, but take a -2 penalty to armor class for the round and any opponents you were engaged with get a free attack against you as you run away.

DROP PRONE

Action: Free.

EVADE

Action: Extended.
Choose an opponent. You gain a +4 AC bonus against attacks from that opponent until your next turn.

FLANK ATTACK

Action: None, used in conjunction with an attack.
You gain a +1 bonus to hit an opponent that you flank.

GRAPPLE

Action: Extended.
Make a normal attack against armor class 15. The armor class of the defender is modified by its strength and dexterity, as well as any size differences between the attacker and defender. For each size category the defender is larger than the attacker, the defender adds +2 to its armor class. For each size category the defender is smaller than the attacker, the defenders armor class is reduced by 2.
The basic to hit bonus may or may not apply, depending on the circumstances.
You can attempt a few special maneuvers when you are grappling an opponent.

PIN/BREAK PIN

If you are grappling an opponent at the beginning of your turn, you can now attempt to pin him. You and the opponent make Strength checks. If your roll is 10 or more greater than his, you pin him. If the attack is successful, the defender is held and cannot use any actions that require freedom of movement except to attempt to break the hold on his next action. Until then he is considered prone and defenseless. The defender can break the hold by making his own successful grappling attack following the same process on his turn. Attempting to pin an opponent is an Extended Action.

MAINTAIN PIN

If you have an opponent pinned at the beginning of your turn, you do not have to make a check to maintain the pin, it is automatic until broken by the opponent. Maintaining a pin is a Normal Action.

INJURE

If you have an opponent pinned at the beginning of your turn, you can automatically deal damage to him. You do not have to make a grapple check to maintain the pin, you simply deal damage. The amount is your normal natural weapon damage modified by your Strength. Injuring a pinned opponent is a Simple Action.

THROW

If you are grappling an opponent at the beginning of your turn, you can attempt to throw the opponent anywhere within your natural reach (the area in which you could make an unarmed melee attack), where the opponent will land prone. The opponent must weigh less than your Strength score x 10. You and the opponent make Strength checks (1d20 + Str modifier). If your roll is greater than the opponents, you throw the opponent. If the opponent rolls higher he is not thrown but remains grappled. Attempting to throw an opponent is an Extended Action.

LOAD/RELOAD BOW/CROSSBOW

Action: Free for all but Heavy Crossbow which is Simple.

MOUNTED COMBAT MANEUVER

Action: Varies.
Anyone can attempt any of the following maneuvers by making a horsemanship check.

MOVE

- UP TO 1/2 NORMAL MOVEMENT

Action: Simple. Moving even 5' counts as a Simple Action.

- UP TO NORMAL MOVEMENT

Action: Normal.

- UP TO 2x NORMAL MOVEMENT

Action: Extended.

You suffer a -2 penalty to your AC vs. melee attacks. You can not move more than your normal movement in any sort of difficult or hampered terrain, or if your visibility is limited for any reason.

- UP TO 4x NORMAL MOVEMENT

Action: Extended.

You suffer a -4 penalty to your AC vs. melee attacks but gain a +2 bonus vs. ranged attacks.You can not move more than your normal movement in any sort of difficult or hampered terrain, or if your visibility is limited for any reason.

OPEN/CLOSE A DOOR

Action: Usually Free, unless stuck or locked.

OVERBEAR

Action: Normal.
Your AC is reduced by 2 until your next action. Make a normal attack against armor class 15 (the basic to hit bonus may or may not apply, depending on the circumstances). For each size category the defender is larger than the attacker, add +2 to its armor class. For each size category the defender is smaller than the attacker, subtract 2 from its armor class.
If the attack is successful, the defender takes 1-2 points of subdual damage and is knocked prone for the remainder of that round. An attacker cannot knock over a defender two or more sizes larger than himself.

PUMMEL

Action: Normal.
Make a normal attack roll against the targets normal armor class. The basic to hit bonus may or may not apply, depending on the circumstances.
If the attack is successful, the attacker deals subdual damage modified by its Str modifier. The exact amount depends on the attackers size:

Attacker Size	Damage
Tiny	1
Small	1
Medium	1-2
Large	1-4
Huge	1-8
Gargantuan	1-10
Colossal	1-12

READY

Action: None.
You can ready outside of initiative. If an initiative roll is called for within the next minute make a Wisdom check vs. CL equal to the HD of the weakest enemy present. If you fail you roll initiative normally. If you succeed your initiative is automatically 10 for the first round of combat. You can use the Ready option 1 time per day per 3 levels (1 at levels 1-3, 2x at levels 4-6, etc). Note that Readying has nothing to do with Surprise.

REAR ATTACK

Action: None, used in conjunction with an attack.
You gain a +2 bonus to hit an opponent from behind.

SEARCH

Action: Usually Extended.
Searching includes looking for traps or trying to find something specific in a relatively small area.

STAND UP FROM PRONE

Action: Simple.

TOUCH ATTACK

Action: None if used in conjunction with casting a touch-range spell. If used in following rounds it uses a Normal Action.
Make an attack vs. AC 10 + Dex + any magic items + any active spells.

TURN UNDEAD

Action: Extended.

TWO WEAPON ATTACK

Action: Extended.
Make 2 attacks, one at -3 and one at -6, modified by Dex. The character’s Str modifier only applies to damage.

USE A CLASS ABILITY

Action: Varies but usually Normal.

USE AN ITEM

Action: Usually Simple. Some items may state otherwise.
This includes mundane tasks like lighting a torch, drinking a potion, drawing a weapon, etc.

Orlandia Samples

For anyone too lazy to go over to my Orlandia site I'm going to post some snippets here and see if I can get some feedback. I hate feeling like I am operating in a vacuum and love getting feedback (even if its nothing more than "man that sucks" lol). So without further ado, here's my Actions Cleanup for Castles & Crusades rules.

Actions Types

In a combat, characters can perform a wide variety of actions. Actions are categorized into four basic types, Free, Simple, Normal, and Extended.
In a single round you may:

• Use one Extended Action and 1-2 Free Actions (but not Simple Actions).
  
• Use one Normal Action and one Simple Action and 1-2 Free Actions.

Notes:
You can not perform two Simple Actions by trading a Normal Action for a Simple Action.

FREE ACTIONS

• The GM will determine if what you want to do makes more sense as a Free or a Simple Action, though common things such as speaking, or drawing a weapon, would usually be considered Free Actions. This is purposely vague as circumstances may cause a normally Free Action to become a Simple Action, or vice versa.
• You can usually use Free Actions even when it is not your turn, within reason.
  

SIMPLE ACTIONS

• Cast a cantrip or orison spell.
  
• Move half your normal movement.
• Pick up, put down, give, take objects (assuming no resistance).

NORMAL ACTIONS

• Move your normal movement.
  
• Make a Normal Attack (or perform a Normal Combat Maneuver).
• Use most Class Abilities.
  

EXTENDED ACTIONS

• Cast a 1st-9th level spell. Note that some spells may use lesser actions. Those will be stated in each spells description. Also, when a spellcaster is able to cast 4th level spells, 1st level spells are reduced to only needing Normal Actions to cast. From that point forward, spells of 3 levels or more below the casters highest castable level are reduced to Normal Actions (unless stated otherwise of course).
  
• Make an Extended Attack (or perform an Extended Combat Maneuver).
• Move more than your normal movement. You can move up to four times your normal movement but you suffer an Armor Class penalty against melee attacks (but a bonus against ranged attacks) depending on how much you move. You can not move more than twice your normal movement in any sort of rough, difficult, or hampered terrain, or when your visibility is limited (in an area of fog, or you are blind, etc).
  

Forum Fight!

Yesterday I got into it on the Paizo boards with some folks over the fact that there are no rules for defining line of sight in Pathfinder. I was not the thread starter on that subject but only jumped in after the fact to try to defend the OP from several sarcastic replies and to agree with him that it seems like it should have been in there.

Now this may seem odd coming from someone claiming to be a "hardcore grognard", needing a definition of "line of sight" and all. I mean, its pretty obvious, line of sight is what you can see. If you can't see it you don't have line of sight. Leave it to your D/GM to let you know if you have line of sight.

However, Pathfinder is not generally a "GM-call" sort of system. Its a very rules heavy system. It has rules for virtually any scenario. If this were Castles & Crusades I wouldn't have even thought twice. C&C is supposed to be rules-light and assumes a lot of GM calls. Pathfinder however, is by no means rules light. Lacking a definition for "line of sight" when it is a mechanical term that is used frequently throughout the rules is a mistake in my opinion.

So now we have to question "why is the rule missing?" Possibilities include:

• It was determined to be unnecessary.
  
• Oops. It was left out by mistake.

After a later post from the OP on that thread, it appears to be more like the latter option. It looks like the 3.5 rules (as well as several other d20-based systems) included definitions for line of sight but in 3.5 it was embedded within a diagram in the PHB that was not included in the SRD and therefore not included in Pathfinder. With that said, I am guessing it was not intentionally left out and later statements saying it wasn't necessary was a CYA sort of deal.

With that said, I grow tired of dealing with Pathfinder. The forums particularly bother me.Originally the Pathfinder forums seemed to be filled with generally polite and helpful people but now it appears to have devolved somewhat. There's a lot of derisive commenting going on over there now.

I think I'm going to take a break from d20pfsrd.com and pushing Pathfinder for a while. The site seems pretty self-sustaining at this point anyway. Traffic grows every day, getting between 1500-2000 visits a day. A half dozen or so people are regularly updating it (though not what I'd always like to be updated) so I'm guess I could drop out of the picture altogether at this point and the site would be fine.

This just gives me more time to focus on Castles & Crusades I guess :)

Sight-Seeing Highlight "A Hamsterish Hoard"

I found Hamsterish Hoard thanks to The Rusty Battleaxe tonight. Before I talk about Hamsterish Hoard let me recommend the Rusty Battleaxe. Great stuff, you can find worse ways to waste your time, that's for sure. Check it out.

Now, on to Hamsterish Hoard.

I love sites that demonstrate just how great old-school gaming is. One of the main things I prefer about it is what I feel is a greater sense of freedom to be truly creative, to open your mind and let your thoughts hit the paper without actually even thinking about the rules or how you have to follow a system to build the item. Start with the end point, describe it, then decide how much you think its worth. I just don't have the time anymore to work through elaborate calculations of per charge cost, is it a command activation item or a use activated item, what is its caster level? Anyway, while checking it out I found several great things I am going to steal for my Castles & Crusades campaign. I'll list a few and what I like about them...

Monster: Least Shade Spirit
"...least shade spirits are delicate creeping membranes of sooty black lace, or masses of velvet-soft darkness that coil and climb"
-- that's f'n cool.

"their deceptively soft touch dissolves the physical form, causing a -2 penalty to Armour Class for two rounds and a one-hour loss of 1 point of Constitution if a save vs. spell is failed."
-- nasty AND interesting. Awesome.

Monster: Spectrum
"A spectrum is a strange little creature of prismatic light; seven small softly-glowing orbs that orbit around each other or float about in an orderly string of bobbing lights. An uninjured spectrum displays all seven colours of the rainbow, one to each orb, and as damage is taken the glowing spheres wink out one by one in sequential order."
-- how cool is that?

Magic Item: Scarlet Pearl Whisper
"When Scarlet Pearl Whisper is slicked with blood, the donor may call a pearl messenger from the depths of the gem. This wisp of fluid energy may take any physical shape, but always has the appearance of nacreous blood"
-- ewww, but cool.

Magic Item: Snow Cross
"These strange crystalline gems, also known as white crosses, are aberrant growths found in the hips of stone roses, pure white and translucent, they are composed of four prisms of crystal joined in the shape of an equal-armed cross. As a prepared charm a snowcross is carefully and delicately bound with silken threads, gold wire or thin leather thongs and hung about the neck to rest over the heart. A white cross must be so worn for twelve hours before it will function."
-- incredibly interesting and appealing.

Anyway, head over to A Hamsterish Hoard for the full deal. You'll like what you find.

Organized Chaos

The d20pfsrd.com site is an interesting experiment in community-based cooperative projects.  When I started it many months ago I didn't really know what or how it would proceed, only that I wanted a better Pathfinder rules resource and figured I could do it myself. Many months later the site has come a very long way. There are now over 30 (approaching 40) collaborators.

However, there are some unfortunately observations...

Nobody wants to do the boring crap. There's a lot of tedious, manual, grunt work that needs to be done. In the last month, out of 30-40 collaborators, only about 6 have logged on and done anything. Those 6 have done a combination of things but mostly importing new things (new spells from Pathfinder setting materials), importing new creatures (converting previously released creatures). A few people have actually fixed problems with the site (which is extremely cool and appreciated) but the majority of people prefer to add new cool things instead of fix existing broken things.

Does anyone have experience running collaborative projects like this? I set up a messageboard to wrangle all collaborator conversation into one area but I get very few responses from other contributors. I'm dreaming of a core group of 5-10 people who actively tackle very specific tasks instead of going off on their own and doing random (though cool) things.

Thoughts?

Issues with Pathfinder/3.x

Greater/Improved/Better/More/Lesser/Superior You Name It
I really hate how everything in Pathfinder/3.x scales by adding various words to the title. For criminies sake just name the ability Weapon Focus 1, Weapon Focus 2, Invisibilty 1, Invisibility 2, etc.

Combat Feats/General Feats
I wish there were just "Feats".

Saving Throws
3 Saving Throws is too few. I really like how Castles & Crusades does saving throws.

The Development Method

1. I may be completely wrong, but my perspective says that Pathfinder was basically completely developed by Jason with a bit of input from a few people. I would have preferred a much, much, more team-based development phase.
2. The "Open" Playtest - While I applaud the idea my general opinion is that it was a cluster-bleep. X-thousands of people randomly playing with no focus or direction and then randomly posting their half-ass opinions on dozens of forum threads that the developers (ie Jason) had to keep track of somehow. What a mess. That should have been MUCH more organized with some much more "directed" or "organized" testing groups.
3. Going through X amount of playtesting in Beta and then randomly coming up with stuff for final that had never even been quasi-tested. Who adds new features between the last test phase and the final production phase that get no testing at all?
4. Errata and Editing... This is just a side-effect of the "industry" but there were X-thousands of people beta testing the product. Why not identify a couple hundred specialty groups who sign NDA's and help find typos or errors? Artifice domain does not grant Arcane Mark yet multiple things in the domain depend on Arcane Mark? WTF?
5. The Fans... OMG. Now considering I started and am the primary driving force behind perhaps the largest non-Paizo rules source site, and considering that I am actually a fan, I have to say that there are some real psychos out there sucking down the kool-aid like crazy.  To these people Pathfinder is a literary artifact on the level of the United States Constitution or a work of art on the level of a Michelangelo. People need to relax a little.
   

Ok that may all sound harsh, but consider it comes from someone who plays in a Pathfinder campaign every other weekend and can't wait for the next session. Not to mention, I ran a Pathfinder Beta campaign with characters in the low-teens levels so I have some experience with it and do like many (most) of the changes.

Issues with Castles & Crusades

Primes
I have found that the 12/18 system, while nice, is too difficult on the high end, meaning the 18 is too hard to hit. If you are attempting to do something against someone with the same HD as your level (or less) you are almost guaranteed to succeed (or fail, depending on the situation). I am changing this to bases of 12 and 15.

Redundant Class Abilities

1. One class has Scale. One class has Climb. They both do the same thing. Why are they called something different?
2. One class has Birthright Mount. One has Divine Mount. They're basically the same thing. Why are they called something different?
3. Many classes have multiple dead levels and then get several things all at the same level. Why not spread those things out a bit?
4. C&C seems to use several 3.5 basic ideas but some have been greatly improved in Pathfinder. I will be using the more modern versions.

The "N" System
In my Castles & Crusades site I am rewriting basically all class abilities and one thing you will see a lot of is references to " N". What this means is that the N is a replaceable number that usually scales at various levels. For example, the Archer class gets an ability called Deadly Aim N. At various levels N is 1, then 2, then 3, etc. In the case of the Archer, the bonus from Deadly Aim is whatever N is at that time. The Knight also has an N ability, Fealty/Tithe. Knights have to give fealty to their Lord equal to 10% of all treasure earned/gained. In the case of Fealty, N scales from 1 to 5 and reduces they amount they are expected to pay by a percentage equal to N. Paladins have the same class "ability" but in their case it is due to tithing to their church.  Archers also have "Extra Attack (ranged) N" and in that case N is a number of extra attacks they get. If N is 3, they get 3 extra attacks.

More later...

Joining RPG Bloggers

Gonna try to sign up for RPG Bloggers today. The site is blocked from work so I have to hit it from my phone :(

Ugh.. Power outtage :( good thing i have my iphone!

Prizes for a Convention?

I am running three separate Castles & Crusades sessions at this falls U-Con gaming convention in Ann Arbor Michigan. I want to give prizes to the player in each session with the most X at the end of the session. The questions I have are,

1) What should X be? Meaning, the most what? The most creatures killed? The most "cool" points (a random name for some token I would give to a player when they do something cool)? Should I have the players vote on who was the best roleplayer? The best hacker-n-slasher?

2) Once I've determined what X is, I need to determine what the prize will be. I originally thought that since I was going with an "old-school" theme I could give away some new GameScience Zocci dice. Maybe one complete set per top player, which means I buy three sets, or about 20-30$ depending on where I get them from. Does anyone have any better suggestions?

Not Bad, Not Good

Well I'm back from the gym and I'm neither up nor down in weight. I'm calling that a good thing since I basically ate like a pig last week and only went to the gym once. Yay for me. Will do better this week.

Off to the Gym

Well I'm off for my workout and weekly weigh-in. Most of you probably don't know it but I'm down about 90lbs from my grossest pinnacle of beastliness. The last few months have been very slow going, not that I'm working just as hard as ever and not seeing progress, no, more like I just don't feel like working as hard. Its hard to get as motivated now that I'm so much closer to my goal weight. Its almost like the motivation factor drops in direct proportion with the proximity to the goal weight.

Sigh.

I HATE ITUNES

I don't know how people tolerate this piece of crap. The UI is horribly designed and its slow as crap. I just don't get it. This thing sucks.

Community Game Design

So I have this dream that a dedicated group of individuals can come together and either perfect an existing system, or create a new one, which is then released free to the world. The open community would continue to work on and perfect this system until there are no grammatical or spelling errors, all logic is consistent, and people genuinely enjoy the way the system works.

I am currently working on a few different endeavors, some more grandiose than others.

KinnexRPG
This is probably the largest project. I have started an entirely new game system with the goals of it being cross genre, class-less, and level-less. I've gotten a few bites from people willing to help work on it but haven't really gotten any substantial amount of help with it. If you'd like to get involved let me know.

Castles & Crusades
I'm, in many ways, gutting the system. I'm keeping some core concepts but even they are up for review. For example, the Prime/Secondary system... I plan to go with bases of 12 and 15 instead of 12 and 18, for various reasons. I'm rewriting pretty much every class, adding some new classes, and cleaning up various inconsistencies in the rules. If you'd like to help with this, please let me know.

Pathfinder
I started d20pfsrd.com (and am still the largest contributor to it by far). The site now has over 30 separate collaborators registered to edit it and various people are working on different areas. However, the site needs basic, non-glamorous, boring, grunt-level work, such as fixing broken links and correcting typos and errata. If you'd like to get involved in d20pfsrd.com, please let me know.

What it is!

So I decided to start a blog dedicated just to my gaming related activities and for posting things I find online of any interest.

Why Hardcore Grognard?
While I am certainly a grognard, I am not JUST into old-school games. I'm a big proponent of Pathfinder as well as other old-school games, most specifically Castles & Crusades.

I'll post some more in a bit, specifically news on the status of d20pfsrd.com as well as info about Orlandia (my Castles & Crusades world and current game design project).