Pathfinder Character Sheets

If you're looking for character sheets for your Pathfinder game, I can not recommend Dyslexic Studios complete set highly enough.

These sheets are clean, clear, tightly designed and have specific sheets for the core and base classes in Pathfinder, including 3PPs like Dreamscarred Press' Psionics Unleashed. Pages for animal companions, eidolons, summoned creatures, familiars and mounts are also included.

I've used many a character sheet in my day, from pre-made to hand-made, and these balance convenience, rules support and visual appeal in a way I've never seen. And the best thing is, they're free! Check them out and spread the word.

Here's the breakdown.

Red Hand of Doom

Several years ago I ran a 4th edition DnD game converting one of my favorite v3.5 modules, Red Hand of Doom. You can find detailed images of how we brought the encounter maps to life, gaming hardware, minis and other ideas here:

Red Hand of Doom Photo Blog

Behind the Screen: We Be Goblins, Part 2

Available as a free PDF here

Spoiler Alert

The Behind the Screen series is intended for GMs looking for ideas on running We Be Goblins, or advice about running long-term campaigns. Posts will include information that my players already know about the We Be Goblins storyline, but may include spoilers for those who haven't played yet. You've been warned.

Item Cards

When Paizo first started publishing their item cards I thought they were pretty ridiculous and said so repeatedly. In those first few years they kept sending me free packs whenever I ordered maps and game books. Needless to say, their ploy worked! I have long since eaten crow and admit that I own hundreds of item cards. They are a brilliant way to bring life to your campaign and give players both a visual and tactile connection to their sessions.

The players can win these items at the start of We Be Goblins! by completing a series of gobliny dares:
Cloak of Useful Items, Horsebane Dogslicer, Ring of Climbing, Elixir of Dragon Breath

Before a game, I put together stacks of item cards for each of the encounters. I slip each card into an opaque-backed card sleeve. Protection isn't my goal here. Behind each item is a card that reveals what the item is, but the players aren't allowed to look at it until they correctly identify the item. Once they do, I let them read it themselves. The look on the player's face when they read the card, and the building curiosity of the other players, is far more intriguing than me saying: "You found a +2 dagger."

Behind the Screen: We Be Goblins, Part 1

Available as a free PDF here.

Spoiler Alert

The Behind the Screen series is intended for GMs looking for ideas on running We Be Goblins, or advice about running long-term campaigns. Posts will include information that my players already know about the We Be Goblins storyline, but may include spoilers for those who haven't played yet. You've been warned.

We Be Goblins! is a prologue to the Pathfinder Adventure Path, The Jade Regent. In We Be Goblins!, the players take on the role of goblin heroes looking for a stash of Tienese fireworks hidden in a landlocked ship near their village in the Brinestump Swamp.

I decided to run We Be Goblins! for three reasons: 1) my players are relatively new to Pathfinder, 2) we'll be using some optional rules: Wounds and Vitality, and Armor as Damage Reduction, and 3) it gives the group a chance to experience my GM'ing style, which includes heavy roleplaying, fast-paced fight scenes and lots of props.

My players are already voracious roleplayers, so the opportunity to play insane goblins was a great way to break the ice and introduce them to the new rules without them worrying about playing their freshly-minted PCs "right".

Depth of Character, Developing Character Arc at the Table

Originally Posted at www.gameschangelives.com

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The best characters in literature go through change. They start a story in one emotional or mental state and end someplace very different. They may want something or believe they want something at the start of a story, then by the end want something very different. In writing we call it character growth, or a character's arc.

When you are developing a character for any roleplaying game, keep in mind what emotional state they are starting in and how they may change by the time the campaign or story is over. You don't have to know exactly what that change will be, but giving a character the opportunity to grow adds depth and freshness to Player Characters (PCs), particularly in long campaigns. The change may be purely roleplaying, like hating a particular race, culture or non-player character (NPC) then learning to trust them, or it may manifest itself as a game-related change, like adding levels in a new class. Or it could be both.