Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 8

It has been a while but the adventure continues!

I have been lax on updates lately but with the winter coming and me wanting to get back to being creative I do have a couple good ideas for projects that I may work on.  And you know, keeping this campaign report going.

Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 7

Its been a while as I have mostly been posting quasi Twitter like updates on my game group's Facebook page that nobody cares about.

But Pathfinder continues:

My players couldn't defeat the Bandit Commander and beat a hasty retreat, burning up a VERY critical thing.  Thinking quickly and taking some future ideas, this is what our game has turned into!  A battle for the future and the past of Britannia!  And considering the 2 80s CRPGs I am taking ideas from (Bard's Tale and Ultima) have both had time travel elements it all sort of works together.

Besides a cigar chomping English talking Gorilla Man with Power Fist is waaay cooler than any silly Goblin...

Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 6

This is a short one but it was a short session.

I've been a mixture of depressed, angry, and lazy of late so I haven't really been in the mood to update this blog.  I do have some project ideas I might work on, and the long post explaining what really got me down the most.

Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 5

I've been lazy at getting this done.  And dying horribly in Wizardry.  However, it is finally done and now you too may see what we did in the land of Pathfinder.

I'll probably have some funny/sad table tales from a game I almost played in this week.  But money has been tight so I have been picking up hours at work.  Cuz cash in fact does rule everything around me.  Also how else will I buy a 500 dollar video card even though 80% of the games I play on my PC tend to be 10 years older or more?

Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 4

I meant to have this up last night to have my 4 posts a month minimum quota up but that didn't happen because I am a bad person with bad time management.  However its up now in its massive glory.

I even tried adding in some "funny" comments.  Hopefully my troupe of NINE players doesn't mind me putting words in their PC's mouths.

While I DO still feel bad the one new player left and really didn't give us a chance, I am obviously not going to change the entire style of the game around for him, especially when in general people seem to quite enjoy my game.  Sure its a loud rambunctious madhouse of 5-9 players all talking loudly and saying terrible things and my loud voice having to be louder to keep the chaos down to a dull roar as opposed to the Pit at a GWAR concert, (Though given some of our players they could probably out O_o GWAR if they wanted.  I keep them a lot below that.  They can go to a Cannibal Corpse show on their own!) but its FUN LIKE THAT.  Some of our players have never really played RPGs before and have told me they enjoy the monster bashing and the exploration as opposed to lots of in character discussion and such.

I really can't take that away from them for one new person who didn't really let me know what sort of game he liked.  He just claimed he had to leave about 2 hours in and basically seemed uninterested in our schedule, or any of the other games in the store I talked up.  (Like FASA Star Trek, Changeling, a GURPS Paranormal thing.  All of those games have a lot more RP in them.  My game is more a cinematic action adventure, heavily pickup based.)

I'm hoping he might come back and give us another shot but.. I won't hold my breath.  And honestly with NINE players we are probably bigger than we should be anyhow.  But folks can't always make every week which keeps things a bit saner but only barely.

Its a complete BLAST though.  And I have already declared we should play Paranoia sometime.  This group would provide so much fun for Friend Computer.

(Or what a friend on IRC said: "Kobolds Ate My Baby!".  He is wise for being from Pennsylvania!)

Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 3

Its up a bit late and its a bit short but here was our last Pathfinder game report.  3 new players AND one of our other players stopped by while not feeling well to sell me some cool ancient games for an amazing price.  (Combots, and 4 Zip Loc games.)

Yes we basically just got through with one short session.  But 3 new players, 2 never having played any tabletop RPG before got in today.  That's cool.  I now have 9 players which I will probably call the maximum I would use in any one session.  (If we were running Swords & Wizardry or X Plorers maybe more as characters are super light in stats and the rules are about the same, sans my optional X Plorer stuff.  But 2 people already have bought the MASSIVE core book and I keep debating doing the same.  It wouldn't be right to mess with folks' investment.  I play it rules light and only vaguely seem to follow the rules anyhow though.  We will endure.  Besides, the odds of everyone making it even as a biweekly game is usually pretty low.  I'll just balance for 6 players instead of 4 and tweak as needed on the fly.)

Its a very RP lite game so far.  Some PCs don't even have names.  Folks show up, I give a quick recap, they explore the dungeon.  If they want a more guided game once they leave this dungeon I will keep building as such but if they want a more sandbox one I will set that up too.

I might run the game, but without players its just ideas in my brain.  Part of the joys of tabletop RPGs is you can change rules to suit your groups' whims and needs.   You get to hang out and have fun with lots of people, some you might have never met otherwise.  You all get to build a story where luck and creativity reign supreme. 

What's not to like?

Pathfinder Beginner Box Campaign Comic Report Part 2

This time its on its own, free of me playing other 40K boardgames along side it.

The game continues to be good fun and folks seem to be enjoying themselves, enough so that now two of the players have bought the massive core rule book, and I have bought a good half dozen or so of the Pathfinder Companion books which are 32 odd full color things covering various minor topics in more depth.  I currently have 3 religion books, a book on Gnomes, a book on Pathfinder's AMAZING Goblins, and an equipment book.  They run about 11 bucks or so and are a good value.

Overall I am running this game quasi D&D Encounters style.  Its mostly a series of dungeons and encounters with light story and roleplaying, no real worry if you show up or not each session.  Low pressure.  While this does mean the story and roleplaying are as I stated LIGHT, its still a lot more freeform and open than D&D Encounters which is mostly a single combat encounter each session.  In general I have a series of dungeons with the odd setpiece here and there.

I say everyone is there even if they aren't so we don't have to keep figuring out why Player X is there this session while Player Y is not.  I've had a number of BIG CAMPAIGN ideas in the past that have petered out and just never got off the ground.

I'm using Pathfinder Beginner Box as a nice casual campaign to have a good time with right now.  Make some funny monster voices, give players some freedom without it becoming just a giant sandbox or a railroad where they have no real choices either, folks show up, kick some doors down, we plan for the next game.

I possibly could have (and if my player numbers that seem to keep growing maybe SHOULD HAVE) used a super light system like Swords & Wizardry or maybe 1983 Basic D&D to speed it all up but folks seem to quite like the game and the way I run it.

See full bore Pathfinder is D&D 3.75 edition with all those rules and boring bloat that ran me off from 3rd ed D&D in the first place.  The Pathfinder Beginner Box is a stripped down set of rules and takes PCs to 5th level.  While I will have some options in place for post 5th level advancement (because I probably shouldn't hope for Paizo Publishing to make an Expert Set.  Even though I WOULD SO BUY ONE PAIZO ARE YOU LISTENING?  Max level to 10, another 3 races, another 4-5 classes, more monsters and goodies.  I would be happy to give them money for this.) it keeps things to the point before it gets out of hand.

My players have told me it all seems to play MUCH faster and smoother than D&D 4e.  Also I am even using some 4e rules over Pathfinder's when I find they are better or faster or weren't in the Beginner Box, ala Attacks of Opportunity.

What is Going on With D&D 4th Anyhow?

Over at Something Awful, there is this thread in their Traditional Games subforum called "Grognards.txt", which is basically 4e D&D fanboys mocking every other edition of D&D and everyone who dares enjoy other versions of D&D since 4e is the ONLY fun version of D&D.  A little question came up in the thread and here is my reply in a modified form from there since it was going a bit off topic and SA is known for both probating and banning people for silly things, not to mention looking for people's posting histories off site to find out if they are worthy to post there, in a weird Internet version of Joe McCarthy and J Edgar Hoover who seemed to think everyone was a Communist and were damned hellbent on finding proof even if they had to invent it.

SA has issues.  What's sad is its still the best online forum out there.  Though this is the effective equivalent of being the thinnest kid at Fat Camp...

Anyhow..

[quote="MinionOfCthulhu"]
Exactly how well has 4e and Pathfinder done, sales-wise? I can't find any real figures for either.
[/quote]

RPGs tend not to announce sales figures.  I brought up a couple months back that 4e really did cause WOTC to lose a shitload of customers and there is proof from WOTC themselves, albeit not in exact terms.  (And the evidence was mostly ignored here since most of the time this thread really is 4e grogs mocking every other D&D edition grogs.)

Stuff like the ICV sales charts also shows that 4e isn't doing as hot given how Pathfinder beats it in sales quite often. 

Honestly 2 things are keeing 4e afloat.

D&D Encounters which is possibly the smartest thing WOTC has ever done for D&D.

D&D Insider which is basically free money for WOTC every month.

Encounters does bring new players into the fold and is also casual friendly.  An open place for people to get an hour or two of RPG in every week and no worries if you can make it all the time.  Show up and play.  Fits busy adults' schedules and kids.  I've seen it sell a good amount of books to new players, lots of which aren't adults. 

I even try to encourage parents to join in and play with their children.  Its good bonding time, and something both parent and child will look back on with fondness. 

Insider is as mentioned, free money.  Even if you just sub for a month for 10 bucks and just make a gob of characters for the rest of 4e's lifespan you have given them some cash.  And like most online subscription things people tend to forget to unsub meaning more free money.

Honestly I would still pay a good 20-30 bucks for a complete offline suite of tools, and possibly another 10 for a character system that works offline on my Kindle Fire but WOTC doesn't seem to see it that way.  And given how Insider works it does make them a pretty penny.

For the record right now I am running a Pathfinder Beginner Box rules ONLY game though I allow official source stuff provided I ok it first.  And half the combat rules I use is 4e since if it works great why not use it?  (Attacks of opportunity, flanking, terrain and cover.)   Overall my group prefers it over 4th though many of us play both right now.

Pathfinder Beginner is closer to what I have generally always wanted D&D to be.  If they made an Expert set going to level 10 and adding in the main missing races and classes I would be set really.

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In other news I have a couple projects in the comics report style pipeline with photos taken and such.  But I am a bit backlogged in stuff I am doing right now so my posting has been a bit behind my desired schedule.   Not to mention I want to continue my Transformers Toy Comic thingie, and my Atari Computer project which I have been continuing to spend money on. 

And losing out on dozens of bids since I am not willing to risk a lot of money on untested 5 1/4" floppy disks from the early 80s and many collectors are. :(