The Goblin Song

Since the We Be Goblins! adventure was given out over the weekend, here's my version of The Goblin Song. Enjoy

Caster Gun

Inspired by the anime Outlaw Star, the caster gun and caster shells:


CASTER GUN
Aura Faint Divination CL 3rd
Slot None; Price 13,140 gp
DESCRIPTION
This strange looking pistol fires caster shells. If the user does not have proficiency with firearms, they receive the usual -4 penalty to attack rolls made using the caster gun.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, identify; Cost 6,570 gp

And here's a link to the Caster Shell write up provided by Chrono_Nexus from the Paizo message boards. My personal suggestion, would be to lose the spell level cap if you are going to use my write-up of the caster gun. His version of the shells as written allows any firearm to use them.

The image is property of Blind Squirrel Props.

An Explanation (of sorts)...

It started back in November. I found myself walking through a ruined wasteland, and the next thing I knew I was shot in the head. After miraculously waking from that I found myself running from a horde of zombies. I tried to get away but they just kept coming. Finding a place to hide, I read a story or two to pass the time. With the zombies gone, I began to explore the world. I eventually came across two magic swords, but was forced to leave them when the zombies came back. I fled through a portal, and find myself in some sort of laboratory. After being put through a series of tests, I finally found another portal, and have come back home.

Ok, so seriously, I've been through quite a bit in the last few months, and blogging was pretty low on my priority list. First, I moved to South Dakota from Texas, where I thought I had a job lined up. Turns out it was only half true. I got here, the guy said the job fell through and he'd call me when he had something. I was out of work for a month and a half. I finally get a call, get pulled on for 2 weeks, and then when that job was done, I was told he wouldn't have anything else for me until spring. So, I got a different job. I'm now back to working at Walmart, and now I'm overnight. I currently have no gaming group, and attempts to find one in this area have proven futile, as the only people who would be willing/able to play can't work with my constantly shifting schedule. So, I fell back into video gaming. Recently, however, I've joined Paizo's message boards, and gotten the itch for Pathfinder again. So, I will be getting back into posting again, though I can't promise an update schedule. Already have the next post in the works, hopefully will be up within the next couple of days. Hell, if all goes well, it may be up later today.

Hiatus

As I am the process of getting settled in my new home, Finding the Path is going on hiatus. I am not sure how long this will last, but it will be probably around a month at the least.

Tools of the Trade Part 2

Sorry about the massive delay in posting. My vacation has turned into full blown moving after receiving a job offer up in South Dakota. But enough about my personal life, on to what you people come here for.

Terrain (continued)
So last time, I praised the Heroscape terrain. Now, as I said, Heroscape terrain works best for outdoor environments, so what to use for the great indoors? Well, there's a few options, all of them good. You could just use the Heroscape terrain, like I usually do.
Option 2 is Gaming Paper. Gaming paper is essentially a non-laminated non-erasable battlemat. It comes in rolls that are 12' by 30". And here's the big selling point. It's only 4 bucks a roll. Pretty good deal. Yes, it could be a bit of a pain that you can't erase it. But on the other hand, you can save any map you draw on it. Perhaps you may revisit that location.

Moving on, we have the traditional gaming mat. Easy to use, wet-erase, reusable, they have become a must-have for many DMs. Don't think there's much to say here. Be sure to shop around to find 1 for your needs and price range.
Finally, we have dungeon tiles and poster maps. Dungeon tiles are a pretty neat concept. A bunch of tiles you can put together to build your own dungeon. However, I find them to be more trouble than they are worth. They slide around and they are never punched out exactly right. Poster maps are great. They always have great art, and you never have to worry about the scale being off. However, the 3rd or 4rth time you use the same one, it kinda breaks immersion.

Dice
Ah, dice. They can be an addiction. I've even heard them referred to as gamer crack. The set of dice I've used for the past 3 years are Crystal Caste Dwarven Metal dice. They're pricey and I probably spent way to much on them, but I love them. Crystal Caste also has their unique Crystal Dice. Most of my players use Chessex dice. Gamescience has the technically best dice you will find anywhere ever. And Q-Workshop has the coolest looking dice I've ever seen.

Coming soon: the introduction to the Walmart inspired dungeon!

On vacation

So no post this week. So go check out the blogs I'm following. Seriously. They actually have useful info and I don't yet.

Tools of the Trade Part 1

Well, short on time this week, so here's one of those generic tools of the trade posts everyone seems to do.

DM Screen
I know plenty of DMs like to roll their dice in the open. I, however, usually don't. Not to hide rolls so much as to hide notes. I use the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen. Honestly, I don't reference what is printed on it much. Most of that info is already burned into my brain. However, I do usually have adventure notes printed out and paper clipped to it.

Terrain
Battlemats are great. Be they the do-it-yourself kind or the beautifully-done pre-illustrated ones, they make gaming with miniatures a breeze. However, I usually use Heroscape tiles for my terrain. I love the customization you can do with them. Yes, they are a hex grid instead of squares, but I honestly find that to be easier. No diagonals to worry about and circular spell areas fit better. I'll admit, the Heroscape tiles work best for large outdoor enviornments, but they can work for indoors to. When this was still fairly new I picked up the first master set for around $40, and an online search turns it up anywhere form $32 to $50 now, so it's a pretty good investment for some cheap 3d terrain. Not to mention the master sets come with several miniatures that you can use as long as you aren't overly concerned with scale (they're slightly larger than D&D minis). So here's some examples of what you can do with Heroscape terrain:

This is one of the scenario maps with the original master set.

This is one of the maps buildable with the newest master set. Yes, those are Drow, this is a D&D themed set. By the way what you see there is every terrain piece in that set. If memory serves correctly, the only mini missing is the black dragon. Not a bad deal for $20.

Lord of the Rings, anyone?

Ok, a note on the next few pictures. These are made with who-knows-how-many different sets combined, and you'd have to spend stupid amounts of money to recreate them, but they are pretty awe-inspiring.





Well, I've got to run, so part 2 coming soon.

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All of these images were taken from various sources via a Google image search. To find out where they came from right-click and select properties. Those people own and have whatever applicable rights to the images.

In the beginning...

...there was wargaming. From this came a ruleset called Chainmail, developed in part by a man by the name of Gary Gygax. Him and another man, Dave Arneson, worked together to create a new ruleset, one in which the players took control of individuals, rather than units of troops. This, in time, became known as the much beloved game, Dungeons & Dragons. From our beloved D&D eventually came another game. Not quite new, since it took the main concepts of the 3.5 edition of the game and refined them, but different enough for it to stand alone: thus the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game was born. This blog will mainly deal with that game.
My name is David Slade, and I have been playing the Pathfinder RPG for over a year now, since the final version was initially released. I have been playing D&D 3.5 edition since 2006. So, yes, compared to most of the D&D or Pathfinder bloggers out there, I am a relative newcomer to the hobby. However, I think I have knowledge to impart to the blogosphere that someone may find useful. So to start out, here's a little about myself.
I am from North Texas, and as I have already noted, do not have a lot of experience (relatively speaking) with tabletop rpgs. I served for nearly 3 years in the United States Air Force, which is where I first got into rpgs. I have served as the primary DM for my roleplaying group since August of 2007, and nearly every one of my players were introduced to the hobby by me (only 3 weren't, one of which is my wife.) I have thus far DMed or co-DMed 4 different campaigns, and am in the process of planning a new one, which will be the first in a homebrewed setting for my group.
Some things to look forward to on this blog:

• Details of my new homebrewed world
• Various NPC's and villains to steal for your own game
• At least a couple of new monsters
• And hopefully a guide to converting monsters, and maybe even entire adventures from D&D 4E to Pathfinder (I have done so for my own games, but I need to look over WotC's policy so they don't shut me down)*

I hope to update this blog once a week. Probably between Tuesdays and Fridays (sorry that I can't give a more definate answer, but my days off change on a weekly basis.) Thanks for reading, and adventure on!

*Ok, so it seems I can't do that according to the GSL.