Magic Item Advice 3/3: aurora's edge?

In the first two parts of this series, I created a very basic magic weapon and then turned it into something with a tighter theme and more creative mechanics. In the last part, I intend to tie the weapon into Golarion lore, to make the theme even tighter.

The changes between versions 1 and 2 were quite substantial, but how many changes did I make after that? Let's have a look at the third version, and I'll describe my thought processes and decisions.

Magic Item Advice 2/3: fire-blossom blade

In part 1, I created a magic weapon called longsword of fireballs to discuss the basics of magic item construction. However, one of the main points of the article was that a sword that can cast the fireball spell is not a Superstar-quality item even though it's useful for some characters and follows the same formatting as magic items in the Core Rulebook.

In this part, I explore ways to make it less of a SiaC and SAK, and to add some badly needed pizazz and flavor to it.

Magic Item Advice 1/3: longsword of fireballs

Bobgar the dwarf often wishes he could cast fireball when he's facing a lot of weak opponents. But he's a fighter, and not exactly the brightest or the most charismatic fighter either, so investing skill points in Use Magic Device would be a very long and frustrating road toward fireballing kobolds. Why can't he just have a sword that lets him use fireball three times a day? That's how often Bobgar fights evil monsters on an average day, so it should be enough.

Bobgar consults his wizard friend Lolrond (an elf, of course) about magic items, and the wizard, who knows the rules of magic item creation like the back of his hand, tells Bobgar that creating a longsword of fireballs is possible, provided that the GM permits it.

Let's have a look at the resulting item! (I'm not going to explain why a dwarf would want to use a longsword, though.)

RPG Superstar: A Captivating Tournament

Captivating Tournament (Ex) Once per year, Paizo can conjure an entertaining and enthralling RPG-design contest that lasts for 90 days. During this time, creatures that visit paizo.com must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or become captivated by the contest's alluring appeal. Until the contest ends, affected creatures have a 50% chance to act normally each hour, otherwise they spend that hour voting on wondrous items or other entries, and posting comments on Paizo's messageboards. Affected creatures with the gamemaster subtype must also succeed on a DC 17 Will save each year or be compelled to design a wondrous item and enter the contest. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

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I'm here now, writing my first post as a guest-blogger on Mikko Kallio's A Sword for Hire, because of RPG Superstar 2014. Only a little longer than a year ago, I had never heard of RPG Superstar. I was, and still am, a player and gamemaster of the Pathfinder RPG, but hadn't considered designing for the game. Then, about a year ago, I became aware of the contest during a visit to paizo.com, and within moments of reading about the contest, I felt compelled to design an item and enter. I shared this enthusiasm with a good friend of mine, and he, too, entered.

Writer bios now available

Since there are now three writers on A Sword for Hire, we added a bio page for each of us three, so you'll remember which one is which. :-) You can find the links on the right -->

So you want to be a Superstar?

Today marks the start of arguably gaming’s most famous contest: Paizo’s RPG Superstar (http://paizo.com/rpgsuperstar). Hundreds of gamers from around the world will participate in the eighth annual competition, hoping to get a chance to run the gauntlet and claim the grand prize, a contract to write a module for Paizo.

Entry this year is a little bit of a changeup: Instead of a wondrous item as in previous years, your magic item has to be an armor, weapon, ring, rod or staff. Still, plenty of advice from previous years' open calls are going to be helpful: Sean K. Reynolds' "auto-reject" topics have been available for several years, while Anthony Adam’s exhaustive guide offers plenty to help with mechanics, and I recommend reading through previous Top 32 items and the various Critique My Item threads for more general advice on what voters are looking for. They won't be quite as much of a guide as previously, but there's still plenty to glean from them.

Then, once you've submitted, you just sit back and wait for voting and then for the Top 32 to be announced. Unless you actually want to win, that is.

Even though there are weeks before anyone know if they'll make the Top 32, there's plenty you can do right now to prepare for a Superstar run. And if you want to win, you need to be prepared.

Jacob W. Michaels and Joe Kondrak join A Sword for Hire as co-bloggers

I'm glad to announce that as of this week, two of my fellow Freelance Forge members join A Sword for Hire as co-bloggers. This means that during the RPG Superstar season (and possibly also after it), there'll be a lot more weekly posts than before.

Welcome, Jacob and Joe!

Lessons in Monster Design, Part VI: Name, concept, and write-up

Here's the last part of the monster design series of articles based on observations in Here Be Monsters. From next week onward, I'll start writing about RPG Superstar, which (as the main page currently says) is "almost here".

Anyway, monster write-ups! Before you start writing one for your monster, it's good to consider what purpose the text serves. I think the two main purposes of a monster's write-up are:

• giving the GM useful facts for building interesting adventures and encounters and 
• making the entry thematically coherent by explaining and expanding upon information presented elsewhere in the entry.

Let's have a look at a few things that are useful to know about monster write-ups. (And a quick look at monster concepts and names!)

Product page for my PFS scenario is up!

As mentioned in a recent update, I'm currently writing a Pathfinder Society scenario. The product page went live just a few hours ago: Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–16: Scions of the Sky Key, Part 3: The Golden Guardian (PFRPG) PDF. It's the first Paizo product page that actually shows my name, so it's a great moment for me. :-D

The product pages for part 1 and part 2 are available, too, written by my fellow RPGSS finalists Robert Brookes and Mike Kimmel.

Lessons in Monster Design, Part V: Special abilities

In the fifth part of the Lessons in Monster Design series, I'll discuss monsters' special abilities. In my opinion, special abilities are one of the most important parts of a monster entry. They're the only thing that really tests the author's rules-fu.

It's important to remember that in the various bestiaries there are many perfectly good creatures that wouldn't make the top 5 in Here Be Monsters or advance in RPG Superstar. The orc, for instance, is a fantasy staple and it's absolutely necessary for such creatures to exist in RPGs. However, in a contest you want to show off your ability to create mechanically interesting creatures. You need special abilities that do more than just keep the monster conscious at negative hp. You need to include something unique that sets the monster apart from other monsters and shows your creativity, mojo, and rules-fu.

A Sword for Hire is looking for a co-blogger

It's been a good year for my blog so far: the third-party interviews I've conducted have been popular, and Here Be Monsters was also a success. In many ways, RPG Superstar is going to be another highlight since a lot of my advice articles discuss wondrous item design, monsters, encounters, and other relevant themes. I'm hoping to get a lot of new readers, which means I'll need a lot of new and relevant content in the coming months.

In other words, I aim to blog more. But at the same time I have time for less—I'm currently writing an adventure and I expect next year to be quite busy as well.

As a result, I've decided it's time for me to find a co-blogger, at least for the duration of the RPG Superstar season (December-March), maybe longer if it works out really well. The co-blogger should be able to blog once per week.

If you're interested, send me a message on paizo.com (http://paizo.com/people/Serpent). Below are some things you can include in your message.

• Discuss your experience in blogging, doing interviews, freelancing, RPG design, and organizing events online. Note that none of these are absolute requirements, just things that may be useful.
• Pitch me 3-5 ideas for blog posts you'd be interested in writing during the RPG Superstar season. It can be interviews, interesting statistics about the contest, games to keep the voters entertained, or anything else that seems relevant.

A Sword for Hire is a non-profit blog, so I can't offer any compensation. However, I've noticed that blogging is a good way to network with people in the RPG industry and gain visibility, so I'm sure that you'll also find it beneficial. :-)

The deadline is Monday the 8th of December.

Sellsword, part IV: September-November 2014

I realized it's been a while since I last wrote about my freelancing experiences. I also couldn't find the time to write the fifth part for the Lessons in Monster Design series, so I'll make a Sellsword update instead. Below are things I've been up to these past three months:

Lessons in Monster Design, Part IV: Stat block—statistics & ecology

Part IV of the series discusses some mistakes in the final two parts of the stat block: statistics and ecology. Next time I'll talk about special abilities, and the last part of the series will be about the write-up for the monster.

Lessons in Monster Design, Part III: Stat block—defense & offense

In this update, I'll continue going through the stat block. This time I'll have a look at common mistakes in Defense and Offense.

Lessons in Monster Design, Part II: Stat block—overview & the top part

As promised, I'll continue going through the different parts of monster entries. This time I'll discuss the stat block in general, and start going through the topmost part of it, where the monster's alignment, type, size, and other things are detailed.

The two things you need to get right in the stat block are 1) the math (the numbers add up and are right for the CR) and 2) presentation (you've got the right things in the right places and you use the right terminology, punctuation, and typefaces). Let's have a look at some of the stat block mistakes I noticed while judging Here Be Monsters.

The mysterious costs of publishing revealed

Here's an interesting article about the costs of publishing (including writing, editing, art, layout, printing, shipping, distribution, and marketing) for both low-end and high-end options. If you're planning to start a (self-)publishing business, I'm sure it's a useful read!

8 reasons I love the Pathfinder Card Game

I'm always thinking about new ways to improve my blog and make it interesting to more people. I'm currently in a phase where I play a lot of Pathfinder, but I also play (or want to play) a number of other games, too. One of those games is the Pathfinder Card Game. I love it, it's excellent, and I'm going to tell you why.

I might occasionally also post some design articles about D&D 5E or Star Wars (Fantasy Flight Games). My main focus is still Pathfinder, though.

In my next update I'll go back to analyzing monster stat blocks!

Excellent freelancing advice from Jessica Price

I just read an excellent article written by Jessica Price (project manager at Paizo Publishing). Jessica discusses women in the gaming industry and also gives very good advice on how to get your foot in the door.

Read the article here.

Lessons in Monster Design, Part I: Descriptive line

The first part of a monster entry is the descriptive line. The first thing to remember is to include it. In the Here Be Monsters contest there were four or five entries that didn't have one at all. While I didn't consider it an auto-DQ, it did mean that those four or five entries weren't considered very seriously for the top 5.

The second thing to remember is to italicize the descriptive line. Nearly everyone (who included it) remembered to italicize it, and it wasn't a deal-breaker, anyway.

The third thing is to understand that the descriptive line serves a dual purpose: In the contest it's what makes the reader intrigued and willing to read more. When you're actually playing the game, it's something the GM can use as read-aloud text when the monster is encountered.

Let's have a closer look at what you should avoid if you want that little piece of text to be suitable for these two purposes!

Thanks to everyone!

The five interviews with the Here Be Monsters finalists have been published this week, and all the prizes have been sent to the winner and the runners-up. Thanks to everyone who was involved, and I hope to see you again next year when hopefully there'll be a second Here Be Monsters!

Here's a shout-out to our excellent sponsors!

Rite Publishing is an ENnie award winning gaming company that has produced over 350 products for Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, FATE, and Erick Wujcik's Diceless Roleplaying (Amber Diceless Role-Playing) as well as a burgeoning fiction line. Its CEO Steven D. Russell has worked as a freelance game designer for Paizo Publishing, Green Ronin Publishing, and Expeditious Retreat Press. He spends his free time listening to audio books, co-hosting The Demiplane of Gaming videocast, playing games, and trying to find that elusive creature known as free time.

Some related links:

• Interview with Steve Russell
• In The Company of Dragons, written by Wendall Roy (one of our finalists), published by Rite Publishing 

 

Legendary Games is an all-star team of authors and designers, coordinated by award-winning game designer Jason Nelson. Legendary Games is committed to bringing the busy GM or player the absolute best 3rd party support for your Pathfinder campaign. To deliver on that commitment, Legendary Games has assembled the best of the best of current gaming authors, designers and layout experts such as Superstar design contest winners Neil Spicer and Matthew Goodall and finalists like Clinton Boomer, Jim Groves, Jason Nelson, and Russ Taylor, industry veterans like Greg A. Vaughan, Tim Hitchcock, and Clark Peterson, and stellar new talent like Todd Stewart, Tom Phillips, and Jonathan Keith.

• Interview with Jason Nelson

Raging Swan Press publishes GM resources designed to help GMs prepare quicker and prepare better. The products are richly detailed, easy to use material designed to be compatible with almost any GM's campaign.

•  Interview with Creighton Broadhurst

Dreamscarred Press is a publisher of resource books for tabletop role-playing games, primarily focusing on psionic rulesets.

Some related links:

• Path of War
• Interview with Jeremy Smith & Andreas Rönnqvist

Interview with a Designer: Wendall Roy

Here's the last of the Here Be Monsters interviews: Wendall Roy, whose entry was the taniwha, a creature from the Maori mythology.

Interview with a Designer: Mike Welham

Here's the third runner-up interview: Mike Welham! I'm very glad to interview him, not only because he was a finalist in Here Be Monsters, but also because he won RPG Superstar a few years back. Welcome, Mike!

Interview with a Designer: Douglas Schaub

Here's the second runner-up interview: Douglas Schaub, the creator of the enigmatic warpstar.

Interview with a Designer: Joe Kondrak

I'll be posting the remaining four interviews in the order I received the answers, and here's the first one! Among other things, Joe Kondrak tells us more about the sianach, whose bone-shaking rattle everyone remembers, I'm sure. Please also check out punctalucis.com, where you can see examples of Joe's creative work.

Interview with a Designer: Nicholas Wasko

The Here Be Monsters contest ended last week with Nicholas Wasko as the winner! Read on to learn more about Nick and his thoughts about monster design!

Interview: Five Moons RPG Kickstarter

I interviewed Sean K Reynolds about the Kickstarter for the Five Moons RPG. Among other things, Sean talks about design choices that make the game easy to play.

Please also check out the Kickstarter page and Sean's blog, where he also discusses the Five Moons RPG!

Nicholas Wasko wins Here Be Monsters!

Nicholas Wasko's entry, the nightbloom got the most votes, which means Nick wins the first Here Be Monsters contest! It was a really tight race between the two most popular entries, with just three votes separating the two entries!

Thanks to all voters, entrants, judges, and sponsors! I'll email the winner and runners-up about the prizes within 24 hours.

Interview: Southlands Kickstarter

I interviewed gaming legend Wolfgang Baur about the Southlands Kickstarter. In keeping with my blog's recent monster theme, there's a lot of discussion about monsters, including information on how you can design a monster for the Southlands Kickstarter!

As of today, there are nearly 600 backers and more than $50,000 of the $16,000 goal has been pledged, meaning that many, many stretch goals have already been unlocked! So check out the Kickstarter page as well, pledge, and reap incredible rewards!

So close! Please check out this Kickstarter!

The Veranthea Codex Kickstarter is now over 80% funded! There's still more than two days until the funding period closes, so if you haven't pledged yet, please have a look at the Kickstarter page!

Interview: Cross of Fire Saga Adventure Path Kickstarter

Today's Kickstarter interview is about the Cross of Fire Saga Adventure Path. Louis Porter Jr. tells us about the AP, and also discusses Kickstarters in general. Please, read on, and check out the Kickstarter page as well!