#game: pathfinder pirates

[nairdde32]

Daily reminder that the entirety* of Pathfinder 2nd Edition is available online, for free, endorsed by the developers

*not including Adventure Paths or World Lore, but that's easy enough to find and most of you are probably just gonna use your homebrew settings anyways

[stcrmborne]

THIS IS HOW LEGENDS ARE MADE.

STCRMBORNE. Independent & selective Dungeons and Dragons original character. Rhaya Maraan - Aasimar storm druid. Pirate Navigator of The Drunken Calamity.

[tabletopgayventures]

What is a Tabletop Role Playing Game?

Rather than go over all the generic stuff that you might find in the beginning of a rulebook, I would rather talk about what a ttrpg is to me.

To me a ttrpg is more than a game, which is cliche to say I know.  They’re wonderful books full of adventures, experiments, and ideas.  They’re also a great way to meet and get to know people.  I’ve gotten to meet some amazing people and play some fantastic games.  I love the friendships and I love sharing the experiences with people.  Even just talking with people about the game is fantastic!  I love ttrpgs so much.  That’s the main reason I started this blog!  I want to share my knowledge and love of these fantastic games with everyone!  

Now you may or may not feel the same things.  You’re going to have a different experience to these games than me.  Also you may not want to try a new system, that’s okay.  If you like the system you like and it works for you and your group then stick with it.  But maybe some of the information I share will help with a small issue you’re having with your game.  Or it’ll give you an idea to try out with your campaign.  Whatever works for you!  Ttrpgs are incredibly flexible and fun to experiment with.  And remember this about any game system you’ll play.

[pagesofkenna]

literally none of these comments are actually engaging with the actual point the original OP was making, which is that 5e (a product owned by the Hasbro company) isn't the thing that facilitates great improvised stories and roleplay with no need for combat: it's skilled game masters who do that

I generally love Brennan but he went on this baffling rant in a fireside episode of the Worlds Beyond Numbers podcast about how he likes 5e because it has a great social system that doesn't get in the way of the kind of story he wants to tell—which is really only possible because, as an experienced improvisor and storyteller, he has made the executive decision to ignore almost the entire 5e product, using only a relatively small aspect of it for that game (basic character building plus skill checks). and that's fine! it's like playing a homebrew boardgame using a chess set, which honestly sounds really fun and i might design that!

but my main point here is that combat is baked into the 5e product. character creation and advancement revolves around combat. the ruleset was balanced for combat (i.e., the character classes are intended to be equally useful in combat). the first two arcs of the Worlds Beyond Number podcast have leveled the characters up to... 2? because combat utility (i.e. character advancement) is so unimportant to the 5e product when you're not doing the thing it's primarily designed to do, i.e. combat

If you have a hard time improvising low-combat games in 5e, using pre-written modules can be great to get you to understand how to incorporate combat better; what they're generally not going to do is help you learn how to run a high-roleplay low-combat game (though some materials, generally not the ones commissioned by Hasbro, can!)

there are, on the other hand, other products that are designed to help game masters run high-roleplay low-combat games! this is the what all those annoying 'try something besides dnd!' people are trying to say: it's not 'dnd sucks' but 'these other games are good at other things, and will help you figure out how to do those things better than trying to force them into dnd will'

if you don't mind running combat and the 5e product is working fine for you, great! to extend the original OP's metaphor, it's one recipe and maybe it's a recipe you really like. but if you're trying to avoid meat, taking a meat recipe and just not using meat won't yield the same kind of results as trying out a new vegetarian recipe

Op disabled rbs but they’re right and more people need to read this a few times over

[blackwaterforgellc]

Mermaid 3D Printed RPG Dice Tower - Fate's End Collection - Dive into Adventure!

Immerse yourself in the enchanting depths of the ocean with our Mermaid 3D Printed RPG Dice Tower from the Fate's End Collection. This beautifully crafted accessory is perfect for adding a touch of aquatic magic to your tabletop RPG experience. Whether you're exploring sunken treasures or battling sea monsters, this dice tower is the perfect companion for your underwater adventures.

[trashprinxe]

Let’s have a talk about malleability and TTRPGs

I come from a theatrical background. Did theatre for most of my life, majored in stage management, the works. Plays and the way they function are deeply embedded in my psyche.

So when I design and play games, I come from that theatrical framework.

Now — on the one hand, you have Shakespeare. Fairly universal stories, yeah? You can cut it up, switch things around, put it into a multitude of settings. And it still works! King Lear in space. Romeo & Juliet as pirates. The Scottish Play (old habits die hard) done avant-garde. It’s malleable!

On the other end, you have hyper-specific plays about hyper-specific themes. Angels in America. The Laramie Project. Venus in Furs. Etcetera. You can’t remove the core themes, change the setting, switch scenes around: without erasing the core intent of the work and the story it’s trying to tell.

And in the middle, you have plays that are somewhat malleable. Almost, Maine, for instance. It’s made up of vignettes; you can do only some of them, if you so choose. It’ll still have the same impact.

I believe TTRPGs exist on a similar spectrum.

You have systems that can accommodate many different genres or play styles. People play dnd this way. Pathfinder comes with pre built settings that run the gamut

PbtA games are hyperspecific. Monster of the Week is about, well, monsters of the week. Remove that, and you’re playing a different game.

Call of Cthulhu can be set in any time period, but you still have to be up against Eldritch horrors. If you’re able to fight the monster, that’s a different intent than the game was built for.

Lyric games are akin to 4.48 Psychosis (everyone should read that, by the way, it’s a master work of avant-garde theatre).

And so on and so on.

Nothing is better or worse than any other. It just exists, on a spectrum, in the same vein as playstyle or crunch do. Everyone has their preference.

But with any game, there comes a point where you’re no longer playing that game.

10 Things I Hate About You is not The Taming of the Shrew, though it were based on it. There’s a limit to even the most forgiving game to where you’re no longer playing that game, but something you and your table have created for yourselves.

You can’t take the queerness or religion out of Angels in America. That’s a different play altogether.

It’s a spectrum.

I choose to design in the specific. That’s what resonates with my brain. You may want to play something that’s capable of handling more universal narratives. That’s fine too!

But we can’t ignore the bones of the system, and it’s incorrect to say we’re putting on Hamlet, when we’re actually performing The Lion King.

So: the Theory of Malleability (working title).

I don’t have a great end to this. Just musings. But I hope it makes sense to you too.

[ooc-miqojak]

And here's Pathfinder 1.0's website(s), a system which has always been free - and is a (better) permutation of DnD 3.5:

Here's 2.0's always free content and sites:

PF 2E is an iteration on PF 1E obviously - but has much in common with DND 5E in that it reduces the 'crunch' and streamlines action economy, etc.

While it's all free, I respect the hell out of Paizo, and own every single book they've put out for first edition over the years (it has been a long journey...) because I actually wanted to support them! But when I was broke, and couldn't afford even one book? It was all here, online. Free.

Because fun should be accessible!

This is mostly just in case you don't want to use WOTC content anymore/don't want to support them in any fashion/are afraid to pirate. If you want to stick with WOTC, however, I wish you happy pirating! Stick it to the corporate overlords. Make a campaign about sticking it to capitalist overlords, even. Don't let capitalism steal your fun, is all I'm saying - you have options!

(Below is just a fun fact about Pathfinder Fey I thought I'd share for all the Neil Gaiman fans out there.)

(P.s. Fun fact! When getting really into the Fey/First World content officially produced by Paizo near the end of 1E, I tweeted at one of the writers of that book, and he said they were inspired by Gaiman's Endless characters! Once again, Gaiman permeates everything I love without me realizing it! I highly recommend their First World content by the way, it is so much fun because it is so unique!)

I wonder if Mister Gaiman even knows!

Here is a free pdf of the players handbook

Here is a free pdf of xanathars guide to everything

Here is a free pdf to monsters manual

Here is a free pdf to tashas cauldron of everything

Here is a free pdf to dungeon master’s guide

Here is a free pdf to volo’s guide to monsters

Here is a free pdf of mordenkainen’s tomb of foes

For all your dnd purposes

[dailyadventureprompts]

Alright, guess it’s time to address the apocalyptic legal elephant in the room:

For those who might not know, WotC plans were leaked to “update” the OGL in what is basically a scorched earth policy with regards to 3rd party material/creators in the hopes of cutting out the competition and forcing people to use their new products. 

As someone who lived through the 4th edition/pathfinder schism, the situation is laughably similar:  D&D is flourishing more than it ever has (thanks primarily to the OGL) but the execs at Hasbro want more of the money spent on the hobby to wind up in their pockets. Oblivious to the fact that the opensource nature of the game is what draws people to it,  they task the design team with creating a proprietary virtual tabletop through which they can sell d&d content without having to worry about books or pdfs being pirated. This rightfully outrages the fandom and burns every scrap of good will they had towards WotC, resulting in a dead edition that’s maligned years afterword as folks hop to the newer, easier game system. 

The thing that’s different this time is that the d&d playerbase has grown exponentially since the days of the first OGL, with 5th edition being the easiest version of the game to run/pick up and so many resources online, there’s almost no barrier to entry besides finding a stable/accommodating group.   Hell, with the explosive popularity of liveplay series you don’t even need to be actively playing in order to be in the fandom.  All of these people are networked together in a fandom hivemind spread across twitter/reddit/youtube and WotC just made an enemy of every single one of them with its shameless and destructive cashgrab.  No streamer or 3rd party publisher wants to give Hasbro 25% of their revenue, to say nothing of having their project “cancelled” if WotC sees it as a threat to any of their current projects ( see the huge number of spelljammer materials published after the company dropped the ball). 

It took about two years after the announcement of 4th edition for Paizo to come out with pathfinder, and I have no doubt the OGL leak kickstarted every major 3rd party publisher brainstorming some legally distinct version of the 5e ruleset. In the coming months I expect to see a number of these surrogate systems floating around the internet in much the same way that the onednd playtest content, but spurred on with the added “fuck you Hasbro” energy. After that, it’s only a matter of time till one of the big streamers picks up one of these systems and popularizes it, not wanting to pay the 25%tithe to WotC. Personally my money’s on Critical Role: they were one of the major factors in popularizing 5th edition and they’ve got the fandom pull to legitimize any claimant to the throne. 

To step away from playing oracle for a bit, I’d like to finish up this post by dunking on WotC:  

*ahem*

HOW FUCKING DUMB TO YOU HAVE TO BE TO TURN YOUR ENTIRE CUSTOMER BASE AGAINST YOU IN ONE NIGHT? This is some new coke/Reynolds pamphlet/invading Russia in winter levels of shooting yourself in the foot. Wizards was on shaky ground to begin with given that they’re coming off a series of notably disappointing products AND trying to launch a new edition/virtual tabletop/battlepass system, but to follow that up with a retroactive rules change that lets them outright steal from or shut down creators? It’s laughable.  Maybe, MAYBE they could have made this work if they were knocking it out of the park with new releases every year and cultivating a base of diehard WotC loyalists, but the fact of the matter is that aside from the brand name, the hobby has largely passed them by. Everything that Wizards does, from player options to settings to monsters to rules modules, someone else does better because they’re willing to take risks and put in the effort. Aside from the elegant simplicity of 5e’s base system, I can count maybe two pieces of actual game design (piety from Theros, ship combat from Saltmash) that I consider usable at my table, which is SAYING SOMETHING considering we’re nearing the end of the game’s ten year golden age. 

I know we’ll weather this storm, we always have, and regardless of what happens I still know my friends and I will enjoy gathering around the table and slinging dice even though we might not be playing “dungeons and dragons” in a couple years time.  I’ll keep my eye on the horizon, and let you know where I find safe harbour.

[soleminisanction]

The discussions of elements and factions being 'defanged' in Veilguard alternately annoy and amuse me for two reasons.

One, because this has always been a series about how almost everything and everyone has multiple sides and interpretations depending on who you are, what choices you make, and what your perspective is. Is Loghain a scheming traitor, a ruthless pragmatic doing what he believed was necessary to save his country, or a misunderstood hero unfairly condemned by the ignorant masses? Is the Qun tyrannical, or exactly what the people who choose to live under it need? Is Solas a rebellious hero, a traitorous trickster god, or a tragic victim? Is that woman Flemeth, Mythal, Tyrdda Bright-Axe or even Adraste?

It all depends on who you ask when. So of course you're seeing the Crows in a positive light -- circumstances position them as freedom fighters against the Antaam invasion, and for one of your teammates they're literally family. And even then they're still as strongly coded with mafia tropes as Neve is a noir detective. And of course you need to go poking around before you find the pile of dead bodies the Lords of Fortune are hiding behind their fighting ring. Pirates are all about branding, and Isabella's branding is clearly inclusion and good times; they keep the unpleasantness under the rug.

The second reason this amuses/annoys/interests me is it reminds me of Pathfinder. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game came out in 2009, just like DA Origins, and like DA its setting tried to distinguish itself with "real-world" grit and grittiness. Slavery. Racial tensions. Religious persecution. Mass slaughter. Infestation and disease. Plus the occasional demonic invasion and a shitton of dragons.

But it's been 15 years since then, we live in a post-HBO's Game of Thrones world, and both sides of the game industry have made deliberate efforts to become more diverse. Some of those changes came with discussions to readdress and reconsider the nature of dark fantasy and whether it really needs to be a parade of potentially exploitive human misery.

So I know for a fact that Paizo's made deliberate efforts to pull back on some of those aspects to make things more welcoming for a diverse player base, doing things like outlawing slavery across the entire setting, reinterpreting 'evil' ancrestries like orcs and goblins into fully-developed cultures, and giving the exoticized "fantasy Asia/Africa/India/Americas" setting new, in-depth and cultural respectful re-examinations.

And people bitch about that, too.

So my read is Bioware's doing the same thing for similar reasons, and personally, I like it. Is it perfect? No of course not but we all know what a nightmare this game's development was. They did good with what they had.

[hyde-the-toad-bard]

"Most loyal crew on the seas." Old One-Eye became hysterical. "They says that when the ship sank, the crew went wit' it! N' they says... They says the crew still workin' it! Don't you go near it! Or they pull you down too!"

by Kiana Hamm

This artist on Instagram

[tabletopgayventures]

My current list of Tabletop Roleplaying Games.

13th Age

1879

A Grim Hack

Aberrant 

Absolute Power

Abyss

Accursed 

After The War

Anima Beyond Fantasy

Animal Adventures:  The Faraway Sea

Apocalypse World

Arkham Horror The Roleplaying Game Starter Set

Ars Magica 4th Edition

Arzium

Avatar Legends Starter Set

Babes in the Wood

Badger + Coyote and their Daring Adventures 2E

BattleTech:  A Time of War

Beacon Tabletop RPG

Beam Saber

Blades in the Dark

Bulldogs

Bunkers & Badasses

Cairn

Call of Cthulhu

Candela Obscura

Cantrip

Cats of Cathulhu

Chaos 6010

Champions Now

Collateral Damage

Contagion 2e

Cortex Prime Game Handbook

Cosmic Patrol

Cowboy Bebop Roleplaying Game

Coyote and Crow

Cthulhu Awakens

Cthulhutech

Cypher System 

Daisy Chainsaw

Deathmatch Island

Defiant Role Playing Game

Denial & Yearning

Dialect

Dinocar

Dinosaur Princesses

Discworld RPG

Dragon Age Roleplaying Game

Dragonbane

Dread

Dream Machines

Dresden Files Accelerated RPG

Dungeon Crawl Classics

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5

Dungeons and Dragons 5e

Durance

Dwelling

Epitaph

Epoch

Essence 20

Fabula Ultima

Fantasy Age

Fate Core System

Fever Nights Role-Playing Game

Flabbergasted

Fragged Empire

Fratboys Vs

Girl By Moonlight

Glitter Hearts

Goblin Quest

Goblin Slayer TRPG

Gods of Metal:  Ragnarock

Hannukkah Goblins

Have Axe, Will Travel

Hellfrost

Here, There, Be Monsters!

Hero Kids Fantasy RPG

Heroes Against the Darkness

Hopes and Dreams

Hounds 

I’m the Badguy?!?

In Nomine

In the Ashes

Inevitable A Doomed Arthurian Western

Ink

Interns In The Dark

Into the Dungeon

Jiangshi:  Blood in the Banquet Hall

Jordenheim

Katana-Ra

Kids on Bikes 2nd Edition

Killshot an Assassin’s Journal

Konosuba TRPG

Leverage The Quickstart Job

Lilliputian Adventure on the Open Seas

Little Fears Nightmare Edition

Lost Roads

Marvel Multiverse RPG

Mermaid Adventures

Micro rpg book

Modern Age

Monster of the Week

Moonlight On Roseville Beach

Mork Borg

Motel Spooky Nine

Musketeers vs. Cthulhu

Mutant Year Zero

My Mother’s Kitchen

Necrobiotic

Never Going Home

Night Shift:  Veterans of the Supernatural Wars

Night Wolves

Numenera

Odyssey Black Tales

OneDice Pirates & Dragons

One More Quest

Ork! The RPG

Our Woodland Gods

Outcast Silver Raiders 

Outgunned

Over the Edge

Overlight

Pasion De Las Pasiones

Pathfinder 1st Edition

Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Pathfinder Savage Worlds

Perils & Princesses

Pirate Borg

Power Rangers RPG

Prism

Psychic Trash Detectives

Punk’s Been Dead Since ‘79

Queerz!

Raccoon Sky Pirates

Raven

Rebels of the Outlaw Wastes

Reign

Rhapsody of Blood

Rivers of London

Ryuu Tama natural fantasy role play

Samurai Goths of the Apocalypse

Scum and Villainy

Shadowrun 5e

Shadows Of The Past

Shield Maidens

Shiver

Someone in this Tavern is a fucking mimic!

Spell The RPG

Squeeze

Star Trek Adventures Captain’s Log 

Star Trek Adventures The Roleplaying Game

Star Trek Adventures Second Edition

Star Wars 

Starfinder 1st Edition

Starfinder 2nd Edition

Stoneburner

Syma

Tangled

Temples and Tombs

The Bleackness

The Dark West

The Dread of Night

The Play’s the Thing

The Quiet Year

The Revenant Society

The Void

The Watch

Thirsty Sword Lesbians

This Discord has Ghosts in It

This house is Fucking Haunted

Thousand Year Old Vampire

Tomorrow City

Troika!

Unisystem

Urban Decay

Utopia

Vaesen

Vagabond

Valiant Universe

Variations On Your Body

Venture and Dungeon

Waffles For Esther

Wanderhome

Warcraft The Roleplaying Game

Werewolf the Apocalypse

What Lurks Above

What Lurks Beneath

What Lurks Beyond

World Ending Game

Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast

Xianta Cyber Wuxia

Xoe Microplayer

Zweihander

I'll update this list as I get more. Feel free to send me ideas and also reblog this!

[aelyosos]

❥ sam. she/they. 30s. bi, sapphic. south florida. 🌴 ❥ interests: writing, video games, oc content, high fantasy, cosmic horror, sci-fi, roleplay, pirates, dolls (bjd, fashion), reptiles, amphibians, & ttrpgs (dnd, pathfinder).

mutuals welcome to dm or tag. 💌

21+, fandomless. tracking #aelyosos.

oc page / writing /

[canadiankazz]

ABOUT ME

Hi! Call me Kazz.

Cis. Het. She/her. Mid 30's.

I am a dual Canadian/Australian citizen currently living in South Australia. I grew up in the 90’s, so 90’s nostalgia is my jam. My husband and I have been together since 2011. He is in most of my same RP games. I work retail in a grocery store and have a (useless) bachelor of arts in English and History, a Graduate Diploma in Education and a degree in Library Studies. Orcas are my favourite animal, although I’m also partial to cats, dogs, red-tailed hawks, Australian magpies and guinea pigs.

I’m currently the owner of three guinea pigs named Sable, Neil and Buzz. Check out their side blog HERE.

My hobbies are writing fanfic, playing RPGs, video games and cross stitching.

Link to my Fanfic on Ao3

Link to fuckyeahlabynight Tumblr's largest collection of everything to do with LA by Night and NY by Night.

Link to my Cross Stitching Side Blog

My CURRENT Fandoms include (but are not limited to):

Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss

LA By Night, NY by Night and Vampire the Masquerade in general

Critical Role

Dropout.tv

Doctor Who

Good Omens

I also love SMOSH, Dropout.tv, Last Podcast on the Left (and other true crime/spooky/disaster podcasts,) Disney, Shakespeare, Norse, Greek and Egyptian mythology, most films, musicals and theatre in general. My favourite musicals include Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, Six, Beetlejuice, Hadestown, and Les Misérables. I also love the Starkid musicals.

Past fandoms include Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dresden Files, Star Wars, the X-Men, Spider-Man, Marvel and the MCU, Batman and the DCU, Hellsing, Hannibal, Dracula Daily, Animorphs, Discworld, Game of Thrones, Supernatural, Smallville, Harry Potter, Team Four Star, Achievement Hunter, Death Note, Wolf’s Rain, True Blood, How to Train Your Dragon, Steam Powered Giraffe, Lord of the Rings, Rifftrax, The Sandman, American Gods, and Transformers.

My favourite video games include Dead by Daylight, The Sims 4, Wingspan, Power Wash Simulator, Hunter: Call of the Wild, Stardew Valley, Jackbox Games, Unpacking, House Flipper and Steamworld Heist.

I prefer watching streamers play horror games rather than playing them myself. (I make an exception for DbD, as I’ve become a killer main and that’s a lot less scary than playing survivor.)

I’m also into reading runes/tarot cards and doing some magicy stuff from time to time.

Current RPG games I’m Gming or are playing in:

Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition

Scion

A homebrew game called "Becalmed" using the nWoD system. 

RPG Systems I have played in the past include:

Most New World of Darkness systems. (“Vanilla” WoD, Vampire: the Requiem, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Changeling: the Lost, Hunter: the Vigil and Mage: the Awakening, while also running games with Geists and Prometheans.)

Call of Cthulhu

Dread

Exalted (2nd and 3rd ed.)

Dungeons and Dragons (3.5 and 5th edition)

Spirit of the Centaury

Pathfinder

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Monster of the Week

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG

Apoc World

Shadowrun

Only War

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire

Marvel Multiverse RPG

Please note that though I used to love a lot of things that have *problematic* creators, that does NOT mean I support or condone the actions of those creators. I may still reblog things from those fandoms from time to time.

[mountainofhistory]

"Well yeah it's dangerous. That's part of the point. Gotta make it dangerous to lose." She's honestly quite confused. What's the fun in fighting if you take away the consequences for losing?

"If yer worried about gettin' cut though, we don't really need the spikes. Just need a table at that point."

"It sounds particularly dangerous. A warrior should not risk damage to their dexterity for simple entertainment. If I want to lose a finger I'd head to the battlefield."

Not that she's lost a finger yet but there were two or three close moments.