Let me give you a little history about campaigns I have run. A few years back, I ran a 3.5 Eberron campaign that lasted 1.5 years and took the PCs from first to 21st level. That campaign consisted of me cobbling together separate adventures and tweaking them to fit the personalities of the PCs and the storylines that I had interwoven into the overall plot. I’m actually using the same adventures in the Eberron PbP I’m currently running, tweaking them as necessary and swapping complete adventures out as I see fit.

After that, a friend of mine ran a short campaign before having to turn over DMing duty to me since he was back in school. I decided to run the Savage Tide adventure path. The first session should have been a clue to me since it was a TPK. But, no, I just reset the campaign and went on from there. It was the deadliest campaign I have ever run with the PC death rate numbering in the twenties by the time we quit. We bounced around between other folks DMing until 4E came out. Once again, I decided to run an adventure path. This one was Scales of War. Unfortunately, it was miserable and, partially because of the AP and partially because we decided we didn’t like 4E, we stopped after the third adventure in the path.

Fast forward to a few months ago and I was DMing again. I decided to try out Pathfinder and run the Rise of the Runelords AP. We found that we really liked Pathfinder and even updated the PCs after the final rules came out. But, just as with previous AP’s, we ended up not liking it and stopped playing it.

To be fair, part of that is, of course, my fault as the DM. While AP’s are a good idea, there are problems inherent to them that I was unable to overcome.

1. It’s a huge railroad.

This actually became an issue in the very first session. With the way that one of the character’s background was written, it didn’t make sense for her to go along with the plot. It wasn’t that she was trying to be difficult, it was just that the AP clashed with her background. In the end, she changed her background to better fit but I hated the fact that she had to do that. In fact, during the second adventure, another player announced “But why would we do X? So far, we have no motive beyond find the macguffin.” That’s paraphrasing, of course, but he had a good point. There really was no reason for them to do it beyond “the town is in trouble and the sheriff is gone and we need you to do this.” But the problem was that if the PCs didn’t go from point A to point B to point C, it could throw off the rest of the Adventure Path.

2. It’s very hard to tailor the campaign to fit individual PCs.

This is especially true if you play the AP as it is published. So if you start with module one before module two is published, you may end up changing something in module one inadvertently that has an effect in module two or in a later module. And even if you wait until all modules have been published, it will take a lot of effort to change things because so may pieces rely upon one another.

3. If the adventure sucks, you’re stuck.

The first half of the second part of Rise of the Runelords, The Skinsaw Murders, was awesome. The scene with the cornfield and the farmhouse was intense. And the Manor itself was incredibly well written. I had a great time running it and my players had a great time playing it. Unfortunately, a half does not make a whole. The rest of the adventure was meh at best. But, in order to advance through the AP, we were stuck having to slog through it, hoping it would get better.

So, yeah, we trashed it. We decided to start over and I vowed, yes vowed!, to never run an AP again. I’m going back to my tried and true method of picking individual adventures, making the characters more a part of the world, and tailor the campaign to fit the PCs rather than having to tailor the PCs to fit the campaign.

So far, the PCs are about halfway through Crypt of the Everflame, the first Pathfinder module based upon the final rules. It’s a fun little module and really gives the PCs a chance to become part of the community, rather than just write it into their background that “so and so really get along.” By the time they finish, they’ll be third level (we use the “Fast” leveling chart) so I needed to come up with a third level adventure. I also knew that I wanted to introduce the Pathfinder Society into the campaign. So I checked my resources and, lo and behold, I have an adventure that is not only really cool but it also has the perfect tie-in to get the PCs into the Pathfinder Society.

I’m still looking at other, higher level, adventures for the rest of the campaign, but the PCs haven’t established themselves enough for me to tell which ones would fit. But that will come in time and I’ll have fun trying to find the next “perfect” adventure for the group. As it stands, I’m more jazzed about this campaign than I have been in a long time.

I am honored at the interest in the play.

We are in rehearsal with a cast of 24 humans, 8 goblins, 6 elves, a gnome, a halfling, a demon and a fire leopard.

Again, I wish to repeat the sentiment expressed here. Paizo is the most amazing community the gaming world has to offer. It makes me a little verklempt thinking about all the hard work they do for all of us, for love of the game.

Having gamed the Rise of the Runelords, Crimson throne and preparing for the Council of thieves, it is CRYSTAL clear that the writers at Paizo have a mastery of story-telling, a dedication to gaming and the true spirit of community. Community not just for the sake of making a few bucks (though isn’t that the dream of all of us) but because they recognize something important in this game.

My school is Portland’s Arts magnet school. We were started by a group of parents only 14 years ago. These were parents who wanted the artistically-oriented kids of Portland to have the option of expressing themselves in a focused, arts-disciplined environment. Frankly, we have had some great successes and a few frustrations, but we continue to grow and take leadership in the arts and in education.

For the last couple of years we have had a group of young boys and girls who have seemed to operate in isolation, not quite connecting. This is the same group of skaters/video-gamers/”ne’er do wells that I was a part of 30 years ago (Crap! 30 years????). So I decided to use my art form (I’ve been a theater artist for almost those same 30 years) to give them a taste of DnD, the game the made such a difference to me. I wish you all could see these these kids. Involved, swinging swords, trying to figure out how to pronounce Elven, Goblin and Danish (Gnomish). They are reading every bit of background I can give them, working on costume designs, fight and dance choreography, Ameiko is fervently practicing her guitar. And best of all, many of them are starting to pick up Pathfinder books and connect Paizo to the world of the game.

The main party is drawn from town:

Finn, A young errand boy for the Rusty Dragon
Ameiko Kaijitsu, Owner of the Rusty Dragon
Milosh Hemlock, Son of Sheriff Belor Hemlock
Shalelu Andosana, Elven bounty hunter.
Abstalar Zantus, Priest of Desna
Veznutt Parooh, Gnomish wizard, owner of the Way North

Milosh and Finn are the only original additions. They are the focus of the Hero’s Journey arc of the play. Milosh to fighter, Finn to Wizard.

Come see us. Support us if you can. And please keep supporting the folks at Paizo.

If you’re in the Portland, Oregon area, or will be in the middle of November, I strongly encourage you to go to this play and support both future gamers and the school. And, if you do plan to go, let folks know on this EN World poll.

This is absolutely, 100% real. In fact, you can check out the schedule for the school here and look for yourself. The best part is that James Jacobs himself has stated that “[s]everal of us here at Paizo are trying to figure out if we can spare a day off work to head down to see the play…”

I love it when kids show so much enthusiasm for RPGs and that schools support them! If you’re in the Portland, OR, area, go and let me know how it went!

(I found this via a thread on EN World.)

In Pathfinder, there is a group known as the Pathfinder Society. In short, they are “a loose-knit group of explorers, archaeologists, and adventurers who span the globe in search of lost knowledge and ancient treasures.” Reading a little bit more on them, I found a passage in the Campaign Setting that stated:

Agents are expected to provide detailed written reports of their exploits to their venture-captains, who then forward the most compelling records to the Grand Lodge in Absalom for consideration by the Decemvirate.

And this got me thinking that I could use this to reward my players while, at the same time, encourage further development of their characters. I sent the following note to my players:

If you want, you can write up a recap of a session, a specific portion of an adventure (for example, a dungeon crawl that only takes place as the middle third of the adventure), or of an entire adventure and post it; pretend you’re writing it for an audience.

For every recap you write for a session, you earn 1 Hero Point. If you write about a specific portion of an adventure, i.e. the dungeon crawl example above, you will earn 3 Hero Points. If you recap an entire adventure, you earn 5 Hero Points.

Also, in game, you might end up seeing them published for folks to read.

Personally, and I’m probably a little bit biased here, I think it’s a great idea. It keeps the players engaged out of the game, rewards them for character development, and provides material for the in-game world.

Video Embedded Below

You’ve only got five days so go and put your bids in now to spend time with your favorite publisher during the 2009 ENnie Awards as well as support the ENnie Awards itself!

Box Ninja: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393586762

Cubicle 7 Entertainment: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393589880

Fantasy Flight Games: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393589419

Malhavoc Press: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393588825

Order 66 Podcast: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393588180

Paizo Publishing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393587607

White Wolf Publishing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180393590535

http://www.garycon.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=119&start=0

http://okayyourturn.yuku.com/topic/17685

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=10706037

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=28433.0

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?p=317616

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?p=19169356

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/general/eNniesMeetYour2010ENniesJudgeNominees

http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=76264

http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/forums/t/10493.aspx

http://www.exilegames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26341

http://www.circvsmaximvs.com/showthread.php?p=976716

http://www.animalball.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=104452

http://www.story-games.com/forums/comments.php?DiscussionID=10007

http://www.therpghaven.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=561&start=0

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/259962-meet-your-2010-ennies-judge-nominees.html

http://www.ennie-awards.com/nominations/2010judges.asp

Once you’ve looked them over, you can vote here:

http://www.ennie-awards.com/voting/jvoting.asp

I don’t like the idea of telling the player “X hits you for Y damage” only to allow the player to say “I would have used the ring!” and have to retcon everything. I think that puts too much power in the hands of the player. Also, I don’t want to slow things down just to ask the player “do you use the ring?” before every single attack against them in combat. OTOH, I don’t want to tell the player “no you can’t have it” because it’s a pretty cool “not in the face!” item.

So what ways could I do this to not slow things down and not put too much power in the players hands but still keep things fun and fair?

If you haven’t voted yet, what are you waiting for?! If you have voted, thank you! We, and all of the nominees, truly appreciate your support. Now go tell others to vote!

http://www.ennie-awards.com/voting/voting.asp

And if you’re thinking of running to be a 2010 ENnies judge, you’ve still got three days to nominate yourself. This Friday, July 31, at midnight is the deadline.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=ckQtTWZwVkhyMzhOekhFZXd5b1I0M1E6MA

Tony Law
ENnies PR Coordinator

The voting booth is open!
Voting for this years ENnie nominees can now commence. The booth will be open until the end of the day, Saturday, August 1st. Tell all your friends!

http://www.ennie-awards.com/voting/voting.asp

Judges can start campaigning!
If you’re interested in becoming a judge for the 2010 ENnies, you can now officially throw your hat into the ring. Prospective judges have until midnight EDT on July 31 to visit the link below and fill out the form. After that, go out and spread your campaign far and wide, telling people to come back and vote for you starting Sunday, August 2nd.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewf…ZXd5b1I0M1E6MA

Polyhedrals to Perform at the 2009 ENnies Awards
The Polyhedrals are America’s ultimate gaming comedy troupe. Combining gamer culture with live theater for a truly peculiar experience, the Polyhedrals will soon have performed live for more than 50 people for over five minutes. Don’t miss them at this year’s ceremony!

http://twitter.com/ENnies

Next Friday, July 24, is a very important day in the life of the ENnies. First, it’s the day the polls open so the fans can vote for their favorite nominees. If you haven’t been there yet, make sure you visit the ENnies site to see the list:

http://www.ennie-awards.com/nominations/nominees.asp

Second, next Friday is the day that fans can also throw their hats into the ring and can register to officially run for a position as a 2010 ENnies judge.

If you are thinking about running, here is the criteria you’ll need to remember. All judges must:

• be at least 18 years of age as of August 14th, 2009 and able to enter into a legal contract;
• not have any professional relationship with any RPG publisher during the period from January 1st, 2008 to August 1st, 2010. Such relationships include unpaid work and work on free products;
• declare any relationship with any publisher (including EN Publishing, except for the Ceramic DM line) in which they receive money, product, or special consideration in exchange for their services;
• be able to read English and communicate clearly therein.

If you have a relationship any with a publisher, even as a playtester, it is important that you notify the ENnies board of this so that they may determine whether you are eligible to seek a judge position. In cases of rule violation, conflict of interest, misrepresentation or other factor(s) detrimental to the awards, the Board of Directors retains the right to alter the composition of the judging panel at any time.

Physical location is irrelevant- so long as you can accept packages year-round.

When you apply, you will be expected to fill out a questionnaire to help people best gauge how well they think you’ll work as a judge. Here a couple of sample questions:

• What styles and genres of RPGs do you enjoy most? Are there any styles or genres that you do not enjoy? Which games best exemplify what you like? Do you consider yourself a particular system’s, publisher’s or genre’s “fanboy/girl”?
• How would you like to see the ENnies change (categories, policies, etc)? What should remain inviolate?

If you want to run, here is what is expected of you. All judges shall:

• access the ENnie Awards boards/e-mailing lists (for the purposes of corresponding with judges and interacting with directors and staff);
  • weekly on the designated ENnies forums and sharing an accurate list of what products they have received;
  • daily on the designated ENnies forums during judge deliberations (expected dates for 2010: June 19 – July 11)
• act in a professional and impartial manner;
• sign a non-disclosure agreement;
• in the event that they are removed from office, bear the expense of returning and/or forwarding the products received for review;
• pay any customs duties charged for submissions;
• if they attend Gen Con – Indy, work a minimum of two hours at the ENnies booth
• if they attend Gen Con – Indy, attend the awards ceremony smartly attired.
• report to the Submissions Coordinator and Business Manager.

And, besides being able to say “I’m an ENnies Judge!” what else do you get?

• upon completion of reviewing, retain for personal use or otherwise dispose of products reviewed;
• receive a free Gen Con Indy 4-day pass.

Hopefully this whets your appetite and pushes you over the edge to applying to be a judge. I’ll be back next week with links to the actual form.

Once again, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. You can either reply here or e-mail me directly at pr@ennieawards.com.

So let your voice be heard and, if you don’t like the way things are run, campaign to change those things. If enough people agree with your message, you’ll become part of the process.

And just to give you an idea of what’s expected, here’s the thread on EN World from last year: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/236438-2009-ennies-judge-selection.html

After going through hundreds of entries, the judges have narrowed the field and selected the nominees for each of the 19 categories. On behalf of the judges and the Board of Directors, please allow me to congratulate each publisher for their nomination(s) for the Ninth Annual ENnie Awards. Voting for the ENnies will begin on July 24th. Until then, feel free to view the nominees and offer your own congratulations.

2009 ENnie Award Nominees

All nominees can visit the ENnies Graphics Page to download images to post on their website, announcing that they have been nominated.

The ENnie Awards — Graphics

You can also do your part to advertise the ENnies. Print out copies of the appropriate flyer linked to below and hand them out at your FLGS.

http://www.ennie-awards.com/pdf/09flyer_Letter.pdf
http://www.ennie-awards.com/pdf/09flyer_Legal.pdf

Best Adventure
Howl of the Carrion King (Paizo Publishing)
King of the Trollhaunt Warrens (Wizards of the Coast)
Lands of Darkness #1: The Barrow Grounds (Expeditious Retreat Press)
Purge the Unclean (Fantasy Flight Games)
The Rose-Bride’s Plight (White Wolf Publishing)

Best Aid or Accessory
D&D Insider (Wizards of the Coast)
Dwarven Sweatshoppe Dice Tray (Dwarven Sweatshoppe)
Hunter Horror Recognition Guide (White Wolf Publishing)
Kobold Quarterly (Open Design)
Mutants and Masterminds Deluxe GM?Screen (Green Ronin Publishing)

Best Art, Cover
3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars (BoxNinja)
CthulhuTech (Catalyst Game Labs)
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (Wizards of the Coast)
Howl of the Carrion King (Paizo Publishing)
Scion: Ragnarok (White Wolf Publishing)

Best Art, Interior
CthulhuTech (Catalyst Game Labs)
Dark Heresy RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
Hellas (Khepera Publishing)
Mutants and Masterminds:?Wild Cards (Green Ronin Publishing)
Mouse Guard (Kunoichi/Archaia Studios Press)

Best Cartography
0One’s Blueprints: The Great City, The Saltshacks (0One Games)
Dungeon Crawl Classics 53:?Sellswords of Punjar (Goodman Games)
Modern Floorplans: Victorian Style Mansion (Fabled Environments)
Pathfinder Second Darkness Map Folio (Paizo Publishing)
Star Wars Saga: Scum & Villiany (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Electronic Book
Blood of the Gorgon (Open Design)
Collection of Horrors: Razorkids (CCP Games)
The Death-Mother (One Bad Egg)
Hard Boiled Armies (One Bad Egg)
Tales of Zobeck (Open Design)

Best Free Product
BattleRun (Catalyst Game Labs)
Hunter: The Vigil Quickstart (The Hunt) (White Wolf Publishing)
A Song of Ice and Fire Quickstart (Green Ronin Publishing)
Swords & Wizardry (Mythmere Games)
Trial & Terror: SVU (Imagination Sweatshop)

Best Game
CthulhuTech (Catalyst Game Labs)
Dungeons and Dragons 4E (Wizards of the Coast)
Dark Heresy (Fantasy Flight Games)
A Song of Ice and Fire (Green Ronin Publishing)
Starblazer Adventures (Cubicle 7 Entertainment)

Best Miniature Product
The Clone Wars: Starter Set (Wizards of the Coast)
E-Z Terrain: Cliffs and Mountains (Fat Dragon Games)
GameMastery Flip-Mat: Waterfront Tavern (Paizo Publishing)
Halls of the Giant Kings: DU1 – Dungeon Tiles (Wizards of the Coast)
Neo-Markers (Alea Tools)

Best Monster/Adversary
Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast)
Dark Heresy: Creatures Anathema (Fantasy Flight Games)
Freedom’s Most Wanted (Green Ronin Publishing)
Night Horrors: Grim Fears (White Wolf Publishing)
Witch Hunter: The Grand Tome of Adversaries (Paradigm Concepts)

Best Podcast
All Games Considered (All Games Considered Podcast)
Brilliant Gameologists (Brilliant Gameologists Podcast)
Voice of the Revolution (Indie Press Revolution)
Order 66 (Order 66 Podcast)
Return to Northmoor (Northmoor Podcast)

Best Production Values
Anima RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
CthulhuTech (Catalyst Game Labs)
Dark Heresy RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone (Khepera Publishing)
Mouse Guard (Kunoichi/Archaia Studios Press)

Best Regalia
The Art of Exalted (White Wolf Publishing)
BattleTech: The Corps (Catalyst Game Labs)
Hunter: Deadly Prey (White Wolf Publishing)
Planet Stories: Infernal Sorceress (Paizo Publishing)
Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, Vol. 2 (Devil’s Due Publishing)

Best Rules
Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
Dark Heresy RPG (Fantasy Flight Games)
Hunter: The Vigil (White Wolf Publishing)
A Song of Ice and Fire (Green Ronin Publishing)
Starblazer Adventures (Cubicle 7 Entertainment)

Best Setting
The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor (Arc Dream Publishing)
Hot War (Contested Ground Studios)
Pathfinder: Campaign Setting (Paizo Publishing)
Slipstream (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies (Atomic Sock Monkey Press/Evil Hat Productions)

Best Supplement
CthulhuTech: Vade Mecum (Catalyst Game Labs)
Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods (Fantasy Flight Games)
Hunter: The Vigil (White Wolf Publishing)
Scion: Ragnarok (White Wolf Publishing)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Website
Critical Hits
Dungeon-A-Day
Kobold Quarterly
Mad Brew Labs
Obsidian Portal

Best Writing
Don’t Lose Your Mind (Evil Hat Productions)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Magnum Opus Press)
Hot War (Contested Ground Studios)
Hunter Horror Recognition Guide (White Wolf Publishing)
Kobold Quarterly (Open Design)

Product of the Year
Dungeons and Dragons 4E: Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast)
Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods (Fantasy Flight Games)
Don’t Lose Your Mind (Evil Hat Productions)
Hunter: The Vigil (White Wolf Publishing)
Mouse Guard (Kunoichi/Archaia Studios Press)
Scion: Ragnarok (White Wolf Publishing)
A Song of Ice and Fire (Green Ronin Publishing)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Wizards of the Coast)
Starblazer Adventures (Cubicle 7 Entertainment)
Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies (Atomic Sock Monkey Press/Evil Hat Productions)

As always, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. You can either reply here or e-mail me directly at pr@ennieawards.com.

Tony Law
ENnies PR Coordinator

GenCon is fast approaching and the ENnies machine is in full swing. Starting today, July 10, fans can nominate their favorite publisher for the ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher. To view the form and nominate your favorite, click the link below:

2009 ENnies Fan Award for Best Publisher Nomination Form

All you have to do is input the name of the publisher and your e-mail address. It’s that simple. Just make sure to do it on or before July 17, which is the last day for publisher nominations.

On the heels of that, next Monday, July 13, brings the announcement of the product nominees. Then, on July 24, the polls will open for you to vote on products and publishers.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. You can either reply here or e-mail me directly at pr@ennieawards.com.

Tony Law
ENnies PR Coordinator

PS: Volunteers are still needed at the ENnies Booth at GenCon, if you’re so obliged.

For more info, check out this EN World thread: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/258263-paizo-sets-price-pathfinder-rpg-pdf-9-99-a.html

Edit: $10 is a definite go! http://paizo.com/store/paizo/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy88yj