machai-umno

I have a love/hate relationship with templated monsters around my game table. There have been many enjoyable uses of templates on my monsters and other that have been tragic failures. A lot of the problem that I find with templates is the CR adjustment. Quick often a template will add several features that while enhancing the creature do not really make it any more combat-viable. This leads to having a weak monster pretending to be a tougher foe. This has been enough of a problem at my table that I now consider the CR  line of a template to be a suggestion (even for the own templates I design) and then when the beastie is templated, I evaluate him against the Table: Monster Statistics by CR from the Pathfinder Bestiary. Let's look at a sample monster and a specific template. So to illustrate I'm going to add a half-dragon template (CR +2) to a crocodile. This monster has worked well for me in the past. Black Crocogon CR 4 ( XP 1,200) Half-Black Dragon/Crocodile N Large dragon...

The Lands of GOW contain many wonders both strange and terrible. A survey of these sites include Asterion’s Fortress on the archipelago ruled by the Seven Principalities, the ruined Cyclops city known as Bal-Petor south of Kesh and the haunted Sea of Trees in the nation of Okigawa. Among the strangest, however, is the place called the City of Graves. Long years ago the City of Graves was a cemetery, constructed over time by a nation that fell, like most nations, into the dark well of history -- the people, their language, their homes vanished. All that was left of them was a vast, sprawling field of crypts, headstones, and mausoleums running up and down hills and even spanning a river. Trees grew up through graves and vines choked the marble porticos of deathchapels. Only a ghoul’s plaintive howl or a flowing spectral form infused the place with a semblance of habitation. Then the Ainur nomads arrived. An Ainur shaman had years before proclaimed h...

We game on Saturdays as a regular event, however we currently have a couple of players away and there are only three of us to game (myself included). So instead running our normal Second Darkness  campaign arc, Kent, Tom and I are going to run through We Be Goblins!  as a one shot with 2nd level goblins. Tom is planning on running a goblin cavalier. Kent was thinking about a goblin summoner but is nervous about the Cha penalty on goblins. I wouldn't think it would matter for a 2nd level adventure but to each his own. Last I heard he is thinking of witch or thief. So the question now comes, what do I want for a DNPC. Well the newest edition of Kobold Quarterly has just arrived at my house (I've been a print/pdf subscriber) since day 1 and it has a new class called the Savant in it. Let's have a look. The Savant has a d8 Hit Dice and dabbles in tricks of other classes. Wait! what's this I need a notebook, well that is off the list, no goblin of mine is going to getting e...

Starting group two today... Although the caster has been shipping the orders within a few days of the dates promised, I am having issues with miscasts and missing parts. They are working hard to replace these parts, as am I... I spend much of my days in the workshop casting replacements, trying to keep things moving. I know its a small milestone, but I feel great about completing all orders for group one :) All the best, Mark-

Temporary Cover The Purple Mountain – Megadungeon: Level 1 The primary denizens of the first level of the Purple Mountain as a group of demon worshipping humanoids. The only problem is that I’m not sure which race I should choose for the main opponents. There are many options that each have the own strengths and weaknesses. Core Races Out of the core races the most logical one to choose would be humans because their comparatively shorter lifespans may make the idea of demonic pacts and the power that entails intriguing to them. The overall problem with that is they are a very typical choice. Dwarves are off my list because I’ll likely to use duergar or derro later in the dungeon and I want to spread the monsters around a bit. Out of the core races the most attractive to use would be halflings or gnomes because they are just so unlikely of a choice. Expanded Races Aasimar  - I have to admit a group of demon worshipping half-celestials is strangely appealing. Drow – I’m currently run...

We need more megadungeons for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. There is Dungeon-A-Day, obviously and Paizo has just released Dungeons of Golarion (but its more of an overview). We need a classic megadungeon You know the kind... It doesn't have much in the way of plot or even make a lot of sense from level to level but it does have: - pathways to the darklands - prisons for eldritch demons - ancient ruins - lost civilizations - legendary weapons - unexplainable magic (lost magic) - mines - slave pits - elemental nodes - water-filled passages - mazes - one way doors (heck secret doors) - traps - haunted levels - classic monsters (ropers, trapper, mimics, otyughs [especially otyughs], owlbears) - dragons - monsters too big to have ever fit down those hallways. - artifacts A classic megadungeon with everything wrong and right about it. Who is with me!

So I just got access to my download of Ultimate Combat yesterday. The most shocking thing to me in the book is the lack of magical weapons. There are no magical weapons in Ultimate Combat and there were no magic items in Ultimate Magic. This struck me as very odd. It must have struck others as odd to because I was just asked by Headless Hydra Games to contribute to a new series of magic weapon/item releases. Here is the first one I sent over (this is rough). BANG CUTTER (MARK) Aura faint transmutation; CL 4th Slot none; Price 4,308 gp; Weight 1 lb. Description This +1 dogslicer was made from a magical shortsword found discarded in a junk heap. The goblin who fashioned this blade decorated with images of fire and burning dogs. When fighting dogs or horses, the blade becomes wreathed in flame and deals an additional +1d4 points of fire damage. Additionally, the wielder may use the pyrotechnics (DC 13) once per day. Constuction Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, must be goblin...

Some older 3X content I had developed... Thousands of kobolds have met their fate at the end of a “hero’s” longsword. Kobolds are very adaptable being know to acclimatize to aquatic, arctic, desert, jungle or elemental earth. Heck, it is even said that some have grown wings or breath fire like their draconic gods. The strangest of all kobold variants is the man-sized evolved kobolds. They are tall, reptilian creatures with powerful, relational minds but frail forms. The exact cause of these kobold’s evolution is not precisely known, some suggest it is the work of magic, some say it is a transformative event like that experience by the Elan, while others suggest it was the result of some obscure ritual. Regardless of the cause, since the transformation the evolved kobolds have bred true and their numbers are growing. Personality:  Evolved kobolds are stoic creatures who control the stronger emotions that so defined their less-evolved state. They particularly work to curb their aggre...

There are a lot of good spells out there from Paizo and all the 3PP working on rules for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Admittedly, at it certain point it sometimes gets a little hard to track down your favourite spell. Although Purple Duck Games has not really written a lot of spells we sometimes need a tool or two to help us keep track of the work that has been done. So this last week I build two spell lists (one for Bards and one for Clerics) that feature all of the spell in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Magic plus 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming's (Book of Arcane Magic, Book of Divine Magic, Paths of Power), Jon Brazer Enterprises' (Book of River Nations), Headless Hydra Games' (Eldritch Secrets) and Rite Publishing's (101 Spell Series). These too spell lists are available for free and as tip jar products for $1.50. Please enjoy and use them. Collected Bard Spell Lists: free , tip jar Collected Cleric Spell Lists: free , tip jar

Purple Duck Games has now created four encounter products. Encounter Pages Forgotten Encounters: Forests Forgotten Encounters: Underground Forgotten Encounters: Urban I'm not 100% what to make of these products. The first three sold over 50 copies fairly quickly, yet the most recent Forgotten Encounters: Urban  has not broken 20. Which is a drop in at least 66% of its projected sales. So now the question I have is: 1) Do people not like urban encounters? 2) Are people tired of encounter in general? Its a tough question and often one that definitely affects Purple Duck Games planning. Let's look at the logistics of Forgotten Encounters: Urban . This product has five urban encounters designed for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. All of the Forgotten Encounters series use monster from the Forgotten Foes  bestiary that Stefen and I wrote for Tricky Owlbear Publishing. We charge $2.25 for Forgotten Encounters  products which means under the current percentages with our vendors...

The Christmas in July sales that run on the Rpgnow/DTRPG sites will be starting on July 25th. Purple Duck Games will be participating in this sale as we do in most sales. I believe all of our product will be available for 25% off for the limits of the sale. Please stop buy on the 25th and pick of something for yourself or your players or your gamemaster. Thanks.

I think we need more named spells. Caleb 's Shroud of Obscurity School  abjuration;  Level  bard 1, sorcerer/wizard 1 Casting Time  1 standard action Components  V, S Range  you Duration   1 hour/level (D) You make yourself more difficult to notice. You will not trigger a reactive Perception check unless you pass within 30 ft. of another creature. This grants no bonus to your Stealth but makes reactions to your presence less likely.

Diversion - The Gambler (Archetype) Our newest Purple Duck Games Diversion was released yesterday in both the free and tip jar variety. This release by Stefen Styrsky and Mark Gedak contains: - A new Bard archetype known as the Gambler - A Knowledge (games) skill for addition to the knowledge skill list (if your game allows it). - An 8th level, dhamphir bard gambler - Five spells from additional sources and - Two feats rescued from the 3X srd and updated to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game ruleset. Please download the free copy and see if it can add something to your game. The odds are that it can. Otyughnomicon #2 is currently in final edits with Stefen. I have an adventure outline to complete. Take care.

Every once in a while it seems like some basic spells are missing from a spell chain. This week we will present a number of these scaled alternatives. Lesser Magic Vestment School  transmutation; Level  cleric 1 Casting Time  1 standard action Components  V, S, DF Range  touch Duration 1 hour/level Saving Throw  Will negates (harmless, object); Spell Resistance  Yes (harmless, object) You imbue a suit of armor or shield with an enhancement bonus of +1. An outfit of regular clothing counts as armor that grants no AC bonus for the purpose of this spell.

Northern Waste Otyugh The second Otyughnomicon is almost finish. It will be heading into layout this week. The primary focus of this issue is the Northern Wastes template that is part environment and are magical in nature. Related Development In other news it looks like both Thomas Baumbach (Author of Monstrous Races: Second Wave and Dorkistan ) and Stefen Styrsky (Author on a whack of stuff ) have been doing more from for K. Axel Carlsson at Headless Hydra Games . Both Stefen and Tom have new monsters in the Mor Aldenn Creature Compendium pictured below. Stefen and I first worked with Axel when we were writing Forgotten Foes for Tricky Owlbear Publishing. Since the founding of Purple Duck Games, Axel is one of the many 3PP publishers that have offered Purple Duck Games assistance and advice on the various products that we have in development. Mor Aldenn is the default setting for Headless Hydra Games products but there is nothing that prevents these beasties from destroying  ch...

In my ongoing Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaign, one of the only original characters left (since we started the Second Darkness adventure path) is Gadak - a half-orc wolf shaman druid. The main problem my player ran into was that eventually his animal companion grew to large and was having trouble fitting where Gadak wanted to explore. So he created these. Garak's Collars Aura  faint transmutation; CL  3rd Slot  neck; Price  8,000 gp; Weight  1/2 lb. Description When placed upon the neck of a willing animal this collar causes the animal to be instantly diminished, halving its height, length and width and dividing its weight by eight. This decrease changes the creature's size category to the next smaller on. The animal gains a +2 size bonus to Dexterity, a -2 penalty to Strength, a +1 bonus on attack rolls and AC due to reduced size but all natural attack damages drop one category. Any other equipment worn by the animal is likewise reduced. The animal remai...

By Thomas Baumbach, Stefen Styrsky and Mark Gedak On Tuesday, Purple Duck Games released its first commercial feat book called 80 Awesome Feats ... and 2 Crappy Ones.  As I explained on the Paizo boards, I think all collections will have great feats and some stinkers but how an individual determines which are awesome and which are crappy will really dependent on the individual and what they are looking for. If you never, ever play a monk then the awesome feat I listed earlier in the thread is crappy for you. I think its a great and honest name for a collection of feats. Since then we have discussed some errata and tweaks to at least one feat over on their boards. Please come join the discussion or pick up your copy today .

According to the Pathfinder Reference Document :    A wizard begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level wizard spells (except those from his prohibited schools, if any; see Arcane Schools) plus three 1st-level spells of his choice. The wizard also selects a number of additional 1st-level spells equal to his   Intelligence   modifier to add to the spellbook. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game has 20, 0th level spells (10% of the average spellbook). When you add in the spells from the Advanced Player's Guide and Ultimate Magic the total rises to 21 (admittedly not huge) If we include 3rd party spells (and frankly why wouldn't we) Rite Publishing adds another 101 - 0th level spells , Headless Hydra Games adds 30 more in Eldritch Secrets , the crew at 4WFG must add at least another dozen in the Book of Arcane Magic , Book of Divine Magic and Inkantations , plus the spells from the other licensed publishers at Paizo 's site and Rpgnow .  So with the Pathfinder...

Karisn CR 1/2 Male dark folk sorcerer 1 ( nightmarish bloodline) N small humanoid (dark folk) Init +2; Senses see in darkness; Perception +2   Defense AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13(+2 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size) hp 7  (1d6+1) Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 Weakness  light blindness   Offense Speed  30 ft. Melee  sickle -1 (1d4-1) Ranged  light crossbow +2 (1d6/19-20) Special Attacks  death throes Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st, concentration +4)   6/day - nightmarish touch (Will DC 13; frightened 2 rounds) Dark Folk Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st, concentration +4)   1/day - darkness , detect magic Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 1st, concentration +4; ASF 10%)   1st (4/day) - cause fear , mage armor   0th (at-will) -   flare , moment of darkness , resistance , touch of fatigue , Bloodline Arcana  change spell damage to evil; Dark Folk Arcana  +1 CL for darkness descriptor   Statistics Str  8, Dex 15, Con ...

Second part of the scripting overview. Make sure to watch in HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmQjO1C_Q90?hd=1

Monstrous Races: Second Horde Thomas Baumbach Early in July we released the second volume of Monstrous Races at Rpgnow. Monstrous Races: Second Horde  by Thomas Baumbach, contains our series dedicated to giving players more options when it comes to their fantasy races. Within its pages you will find alternate racial features, favored class options and roleplaying advice for eight additional races. With new information to make all the races playable at first level, Monstrous Races: Second Horde gives you access to several races previously restricted to as monster use. Below is are the base Lizardfolk as PC stats: Lizardfolk as PCs The lizardfolk presented in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game  Bestiary is not intended to be a PC race. The below stats represent  a lizardfolk that is balanced with the other core races,  but still retains the same feel as the standard lizardfolk. LIZARDFOLK RACIAL TRAITS +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence: Lizardfolk are  bra...

A post-mortem for Amnesia is now up on The Escapist. You can read the whole thing here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/9011-The-Terrifying-Tale-of-Amnesia While not short, the article is a bit edited and does not go into details on all events. Still it should give a pretty good overview of how Amnesia came about.

Aierolin Aierolin The Aierolin, or wind talkers, hail from a low gravity planet at the edge of the galactic core. They sail throughout the void in strange solar sailcraft. Aierolin in mixed company often take on the role of negotiator and diplomat because they agile movement and softness seems to put other races at ease. AIEROLIN RACIAL TRAITS +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength: Aierolin are a graceful race that is said to be able to hear the faintest whisper. They are not physically strong. Medium: Aierolin are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Low-Light Vision: Aierolin can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. Fast Speed: Aierolin have a base speed of 40 feet. Air Born Grace: Aierolin receive a +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics and Fly. Keen Assessment: Aierolin receive a +2 racial bonus to Sense Motive. Weapon Famility: Aierolin are proficient with all thrown weapons. Languages Aierolin begin play speaking Auran and Universal...

Antipaladin Feats A few weeks ago I was working on an antipaladin NPC for my campaign and as I searched for feats I saw many feats designed specifically for paladin's but few that were applicable to the antipaladin without modification. Realizing that making conversions wouldn't be hard but would require a bit of time, I sat down and polished off this book in a matter of hours. This book contains 15 feats that are conversions of paladin feats to fit the antipaladin mold. I put it up as a freebie  and as a tip jar product. As of this date my numbers look like this: Free Version: 215 downloads Tip Jar Version: 6 downloads There definitely seems to be some feat interest.

Today was our weekly Pathfinder session. We are currently playing through the Second Darkness campaign arc. For my DNPC, I using a 9th level magus from Ultimate Magic. It was my first time trying the magus and I enjoyed it quite a bit but I would really like this feat to exist so I'm adding it here. Spell Trigger Combat Your knowledge of spell combat extends to spell trigger items. Prerequisites: Improved spell combat class ability. Benefit:  When using spell combat, you can activate a spell trigger item instead of casting a spell.

June has slipped past me it seems with very few updates to my blog here. A number of things have been happening since I last posted though so this will be a bit of a catch-up blog. Legendary Races: Medusa by Stefen Styrsky Legendary Races: Medusa  Written by Stefen Styrsky this is the second release in Legendary Races line. Legendary Races: Medusa  explores the physiology, habitat and society of this legendary race.  Additionally this second volume of the Legendary Races series by Stefen Styrsky includes: New alchemical discoveries unique to the medusa race An eight level medusa racial class Diffraction goggles to control the medusa adventurer's gaze Half-medusa racial traits for the offspring of medusa and their humanoid consorts (complete with alternate racial traits and favored class options) Sample medusa and half-medusa npcs using the new racial rules A medusa bloodline for sorcerer characters Variant snake hair rules for the standard medusa Finally a snake-bodied te...

I'm in a bit of a post-release funk...  I have a couple of ideas that seem interesting, but nothing is really motivating me at the moment.  I just finished Red Dead Redemption again, so that will free up some time.  I have a bit of a vacation coming up, so no programming then, but when I get back, I plan on getting in some serious work. The major question:  Do I want to do something I think will be commercially successful?  Or something more experimental, that hasn't really been done before?  What am I trying to accomplish here?

I just recorded a little clip about how scripting works in HPL3. In this film I just talk about the very basic elements of scripting and will follow up with another movie were I talk about some more complex features: Make sure to watch in in HD: http://youtu.be/5OKFik2IEZU?hd=1