chacadwa.com

Technical blog and writings by Micah Webner.

Pathfinder RPG

Blogrimage 2014 Day 8: Back for Another Round

3/8/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

We played our third session of Pathfinder today. It went much more smoothly than our initial sessions last weekend. Even though I still spent a lot of time in the books, the index cards helped.

I was also a lot more comfortable in general. I think I stopped trying to make the session be anything and just focused on playing through the encounters.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 7: Ferrets and Chainsaws

3/7/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

I love podcasts. I have a long commute, which gives me plenty of time to listen. I even hosted a podcast for a while. So it would only make sense that I seek out podcasts about Pathfinder and RPGs in general for this blogrimage.

I found a few different options, but have only had time to listen to one so far, the latest episode of the Private Sanctuary Podcast, To GM or not to GM. This turned out to be a great place to start, because the hosts (one an experienced Game Master and one a player who tried her hand at it only one time) went into some pretty good reasons for or against being a GM.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 6: Let Me Google That For You

3/6/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

You should start a blog right now. If you need a reason, Tim Kastelle has seven great ones. His post also touches on Sacha Chua's top 10 reasons not to blog. The blogrimage is a great opportunity to overcome many of those excuses. It's not too late to join in, you'll just finish up a few days later. Pick a challenge and write about it every day for 30 days. Go!

One of my biggest takeaways from last weekend's Pathfinder sessions was that I need to be better organized. Yes, I need to spend a little more time studying the details of our current adventure, but if I can't keep it all straight when the swords are swinging and crossbow bolts are flying, I'm sure I'll have regrets.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 5: Download THIS!

3/5/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

Everyone loves getting free stuff, and that includes "free bonus material" after you've purchased something. Now, I realize there are multiple reasons for doing this, but let's face it, this can be an easy way to make your customers happy while leading them towards an up-sell. To continue the parallels I drew in my last post, I've quickly noticed that this applies to both electronic games like Mass Effect and Skyrim, as well as tabletop games like the Pathfinder Beginner Box. And in both cases, I've been pretty happy with what I've found.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 4: Living Under a Rock

3/5/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

Over the years, my wife and I have dabbled into some computer games, but have never really been what you'd call gamers. Back in the days when we did play, I spent a lot of time the old MS-DOS games Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds, both of which followed game mechanics based on the AD&D rule set. This wasn't really as good as tabletop play with real people, but I enjoyed it a lot.

I also played the original DOS version of DOOM until I discovered WAD editors, after which most of my play time was spent designing my own levels rather than playing the game.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 3: Into the Dungeon

3/4/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

The last time my wife and I played AD&D was shortly after we got married. Our Dungeon Master, Chris, was an incredible game runner. We only played a few sessions before the busyness of work and married life ended our gaming opportunities, but our adventure was as incredible as it was short. Chris is a master storyteller; his narrative is cinematic. My wife and I still recall the opening of the campaign as if we'd seen it on the big screen instead of through spoken word around the kitchen table in our tiny apartment. My mind's eye can still see the stars in the night sky over our caravan as we journeyed to our destination.

With the bar having been set so high, I've always questioned whether I'd ever have the ability to run an even moderately enjoyable game myself. In fact, that's probably one of the reasons I waited more than 20 years to even try.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 2: Pathfinder Beginner Box

3/2/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah

I never really heard of Pathfinder until Friday night. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is an evolution of the 3.5 rules set of Dungeons & Dragons. Apparently there were some changes in D&D version 4 that existing players didn't like, and Pathfinder was one of the spin-off products released under the Open Game License. I was told that this game would probably more like the old First Edition AD&D I'd played back in the 1980's than current D&D.

I got home Friday night and unpacked the box. I was immediately impressed by what I found inside.

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Blogrimage 2014 Day 1: Let the Games Begin

3/2/2014 in Pathfinder RPG by micah
Character Alignments - Downton Abbey

I wasn't going to join the blogrimage this year, but after hearing Pradeepan talk about Soylent this morning, I decided to join the fun. Besides, I started something new yesterday, so all I need to do is write an extra blog post today to catch up.

So, for the next 29 days, I'm going to explore what it takes to be a Pathfinder RPG Game Master. If that sounds like I've reverted to childhood and gone back to playing D&D, you're right.

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