Pathfinder Society Module #40 Mini Review

Right off the bat, I’m going to say that this is a very good module, no…an excellent module. One that screams for a longer exploration. I’ve read a few of the Pathfinder Society modules and have used bits and pieces here and there in my home game. This is one that would have been a classic city adventure had it been given the room.

There are basically two scenes in the module. A set up in a local bar and the main adventure in a local temple. Fine for a Society module, but it left me wanting more. Can anyone suggest a great city adventure that I may have missed over the years?

Champions Online??? Maybe?

Yeah, I’ve tried Champions Online and have called it quits, for now. Now, I’ve grown up with the Hero System and REALLY wanted C:O to be great. As good as it is, it’s short comings outweigh the good.

There just isn’t enough content nor is there enough team play for my liking at this time. I’m willing to drop back in later…maybe this coming summer. Good luck, Cryptic…I’m rooting for you.

New Tuesday Night Game…Pathfinder? Spirit of The Century?

I’m trying to put together a twice a month week night game. My first thought is to run Pathfinder as most of the gamers I know are into D&D and Pathfinder would be something they could get into. I’m fine with that and would just use the same setting I’ve been using with Fantasy Hero.

Lately, though, I’ve been really thinking hard about Pulp. I’ve had a look at Spirit of The Century and it looks pretty cool. I really liked the Pulp game we were playing this past fall (though I would have liked it to be even more…Pulpy). I’ve got a couple people interested in a Tuesday night game, so we’ll see how it goes.

Sengoku

I really loved Gold Rush Games’ Sengoku. It never received much in the way of support and at the end they were trying to screw it up using the dreadful Action System (my humble opinion, of course). It was well written and full of useful info on the period. You could tell the writer knew his stuff.
Ah, I do wish some company would pick up this game.

The Nook

Ok, I read, not alot, mostly magazines, a few books (non gaming), RPGs and newspapers and such. However, I am very interested in the Nook. It’s Barnes & Nobel’s new E-Reader. It hits the street later this month and it NATIVELY supports PDFs (see my earlier post on PDFs). I am thinking that this will be great to lug around instead of a box of books in order to run/ play a RPG.

Opinions? Thoughts?

Man…PDF Piracy Really Attracts Visitors!

Very interesting. In the last two weeks I’ve had on average 30-40 hits per day on my blog. I post my thoughts on PDF Piracy and BLAM, I am at 105 so far today. Alot of you must be thinking about this subject or have been anyway. So, how about a challenge? I think it would be interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on the subject (on your individual blogs, of course). Have you REALLY bought all your PDFs? Has reading a PDF encouraged you to go ahead and buy the book? Do you share your PDFs?

PDF Piracy

Ok, lets be honest here. Yes, I have a couple PDFs that I haven’t paid for (GASP!). Do I have the books? Yes and no. Let’s take one example- Delta Green. Now, there is no Delta Green PDF for sale. Yes, I have one and I have face to face told Shane Ivey that if they issue one, I will buy it. I already own the book, but find the PDF useful and would love an official one.

There are other books that I have on PDF that I have no intention to buy. Why? Having seen the PDF, I knew the game was not for me. On the other hand, there have been times where I saw the pdf and ordered the book. I like the feel of a book and don’t have one of those new book reader thingys yet.

I have also used PDFs to SELL others on a game or so we could play one. Yep, I loaned out a PDF. Just like I might loan out a book. Now, do I feel guilty? No. Should I? I don’t think so. I think they are a useful marketing tool, if used correctly (Iron Kingdoms, you gotta be kidding about selling that PDF for $29.99..). Paizo is doing it right with their $9.99 PDFs of Pathfinder.

Well, enough for now. Let me know what you think.

Pathfinder for Fantasy Hero

Ok, there is no doubt I love me some point based systems which is why I tend to run Hero for just about anything. This past week, I ran my occasional Fantasy Hero game in which I have been using the new Pathfinder adventure path.

Now, maybe I was just in a doofus mood, but during the game I was noticing one of the characters was just lobbing out a pot load of damage when compared to the others. Usually, I try not to bring these things up during the game, but this time I did. I think it went ok and the player and I discussed it further afterwards. I just regret that I brought it up during play. Basically, the character is a archer/ druid type and is doing 3d6 killing (+1 stun mod), has rapid fire and the archery skill. So, he’s T-ing off on one of the tough baddies and keeps firing, firing, firing…saying as long as he doesn’t miss, it’s ok (yes, there are minuses to each shot after the first, but he has skill levels and the baddie is stunned…).

So, we’ve agreed that three shots is enough, period. That my reason for this was not to cause an imbalance within the group (combat wise), any more than there is already.

As an aside, I think the adventure is going well, though I am undecided as to if I am going to run the whole “play” part of the second module for this adventure path.

Amazing

Really, no lie. I find it amazing that a SAMPLE 4th Edition D&D Character sheet is pulling MOST of the traffic to my little blog. It’s crazy. The dang thing isn’t even a PDF or really usable as it’s filled out with a character!

I guess that just show the popularity of D&D. Even with all the 4th edition hate. Well, looks like my gaming group is about to try out some old school D&D in the form of Mazes and Minotaurs. I wonder if I post a sample sheet of that if I’ll get as many hits….

Taking Advantage of Being at Home

Yes, I’ve been sick for a couple of the last few days. I’ve been reading Colonial Gothic. The game uses a 2d12 roll under target number system to resolve things wither it’s combat or skill checks.  By how much you either did or did not make the roll by tells you how well you did or did not do. A “2″ is a dramatic success where a “12″ is a dramatic…well, failure.

Character creation looks easy enough. The book includes a character sheet suitable for copying.  Players use Character Points to assign Stats and buy skills (a big plus in my humble opinion). Stats are- Might, Nimble, Vigor, Reason & Resolution. Secondary Stats are- Vitality, Resolve & Sanity.

There is Magic in the game. Players may be able to use spells, but there can be a personal cost in the form of Sanity loss. Many spells are listed in the book and I believe there is a second book of Magic available.

The book is thick and well written. It contains not only everything you need rules wise to play, but lots of background information on the colonies, threats to the people in the colonies (ie, Monsters) and lots of detail information (costs of things, what monies were used back then, how people get around and time of travel, where the major libraries are and how they work, etc).

I don’t want to give too much away. I would say that it’s a rules lite game with the detail in the setting. Part of me would like to run this as a “Delta Green in the Colonies” and another part would like to run it a bit more “straight” and do mysteries, magic and the unexplained. It would work either way, I am sure.

I’m impressed by the book and by the writing. I look forward to either playing or running this game.