Thanksgiving, Faction Sheet, El Paso

This is late. Again.

I spent the weekend that this typically falls on in Kentucky with my brother. I had a good time, got lots of rest, and two sessions of Pathfinder in the Dragonlance universe in. It was two firsts, one my first Dragonlance game, two the first time me and my sibling were both players in any D&D (there might have been once before, but I don't think so). So that was really nice. What time we typically spend on the same side of the table is usually co-gamemastering.

The other games we played were Settlers of Catan, and Twilight Imperium, both are really need games. I suggest them to people who want a "higher" board game.

I have one other major distraction going on. I'm taking a new job in El Paso, and my first day (barring paperwork issues) will be the first working day of January. So I get to pack all this back up and get ready to move.

Interesting times... but I think things are looking up, if I survive the chaos.

Okay enough distraction.

The free material for The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner's Kit is pretty nice, and helps complete the Kit. There's a second scenario, that you can either doodle on the blank side of the folding map, or go out and snag the Gamemastery Map Pack: Mines for. It also introduces a few rules the kit left out, and puts some more meat to it.

It's also likely a 2-hour scenario, a little more to do than the first, but this should be your group's second session (or later)... so you should be able to get through more. After some deeper reading, two hours was Paizo's goal, so I shouldn't be bothered by it. I may even tackle building sessions to that length. The more I play the more I notice that even when we do play for hours on end, two is about where the breaks fall.

I've also read about half of Death's Heretic it's good. I'll probably finish it this weekend between spouts of packing. The Four Horsemen installment is also disturbingly yummy. A great balance of creepy and cool... GM'll love it, players'll like it too, but not what it'll mean for their characters.

I'm delaying the Faction, and Caravan Deluxe Worksheets again, the first because the research for the introduction/simple suggestions is getting deeper that I expected, the second because there's not really anything to add. Some other companies have mentioned work on supporting products, and Paizo's admitted that right now the systems broken, so this sheet's on a "wait and see" list.

The Faction sheet's in process, and now is the focus, but it's just me, and the universe has noticed my mostly empty plate and dumped second helpings.

Well, here's hoping your holidays go well. I'll write again in a week and a half.

So the past few weeks have been quite crazy. That said, I haven't completely been out of the loop.

The free content on paizo.com for The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner's Box helps the box a bit. There's a second module, which adds some rules the original box materials didn't cover, and can either be doodled out on the "blank" side of the flip mat, or uses the GameMastery Map Pack: Mines I haven't had a chance to read it in detail, but it's also about two hours worth of gameplay from the skimming I got to do.

The expansion book for the players covers some of the rogue, cleric, fighter, and wizard abilities the one with the box didn't, and of course, adds barbarian to the class options. The interesting thing is how the material is covered. There's almost a whole page per level of each class now. Bulky, but easy to read.

Another GameMastery Map Pack I noticed in a store (I don't subscribe to them, but that may change) is Swallowed Whole this looks like fun. Each card is some gargantuan creature and the maps valid squares are inside the creature. So if your whole party gets munched, just replace your counter with the map card and keep going.

That's enough about Paizo's stuff, now for a plug/update.

After a question posted on paizo was answered, I was pointed to a very tiny line on several Pathfinder Roleplaying Game products. "Open Content", I knew this was on the hardback books, and they were added to the list of valid books to use under the PCL. but it's actually in all the others too, and applies mechanics in Adventure Paths, and other books. This is good news, because it means I don't have to wait on two small projects I am working on. Expect a Faction Worksheet, (with a little expansion about faction generation), and a Caravan Worksheet very soon. I'm going to try and get the Caravan Worksheet done before the last Jade Regent Adventure Path releases.

Don't forget the other three worksheets I have up at Paizo now. So far the people who have commented have been pleased with them.

Now as to why this month has already been crazy. Saturday of last week I was on the way to pickup a battery, sparkplugs, and plugwires for my 2001 Dodge Ram. I was in said pickup, and so was my dad. We were two blocks from a major intersection when someone in a elderly (late 70- early 80s) chevy pickup ran a stop sign and plowed into me. Me and my dad are okay, but the truck is totaled, worse, the guy ran. I did have uninsured, and my insurance wrote me a check for the value of the truck, problem is it's no where near enough to get a vehicle even in reasonable shape. This happened in Lubbock, and I've had to be in Abilene, but left the truck in Lubbock, and my job drove me all over that part of texas this week, and the insurance guy was in Lubbock, Levelland, and all other places around here after looking at the truck. This made getting the check madness for all. Then work's been a tad crazy, not so much a huge workload as once again its spread over half of creation. All in all, just hectic.

Tomorrow, however, I have one meeting to be at that will determine who will replace me for certain responsibilities. After that, a month or so of helping the new person adjust, and I'll have lots less on my plate.

We'll see what madness is going on in two weeks!