Dungeon #141

[KB9JMQ]

It is indeed.

I am so glad I subscribe

 

[Razz]

Yeah what's the deal with that? How'd ya get December's issue already? You have "connections" don't you?

 

[devilbat]

Hey - same with me! (And, exactly so, in the last two months). Actually, devilbat, I was going to ask you the question in the other Dragon/Dungeon thread (the price one) when I saw you post.

Weird. I do know that the USPS is pretty bad/incompetent when they have to deal with 'uncommon' events (read: anything that has to do with... well... any border), but I haven't had any problems with Dungeon/Dragon in years - except for the last 2 months or so, when it's now suddenly gotten bad.

(Glad to see someone else in the same boat. Well, not glad, but YKWIM... )

I don't know what the problem is. Honestly, I've never had anything bad to say about the USPS. I've never missed issues of other magazine subscriptions , i.e. Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, various kids magazines, but Dragon and Dungeon over the years has been less the reliable.

I just keep letting the powers be at Paizo know that I didn't receive issues, and they keep sending out replacements, and they arrive three weeks later.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Just got #141 today (on time, Hooray!) and finsihed reading. This issue rocks on toast!.

This adventure path adventure is great -- I want to run out and run it right now! Richards is up to his usual high standards (and although I understand the readers who criticized his Challenge of Champions adventures in the letters, I strongyl urge them to get over themselves and have fun).

Monster feature? Good choice! I like it -- keep it up.

Next month looks to be even better with both the Isle of Dread AND a Lost City adventure. Can't get much better than that!

Gripes:

- I don't understand what "Armor Class -3" means in 3E terms (page 21). A negative AC? Really? I'm having 1E flashbacks. I assume that's treated normally and is just a really bad AC ... but I've never seen a negative number in 3E that I can recall.
- Downer. (SOP).

James Jacobs -- great job, great issue. Don't let the naysayers elsewhere get you down -- we've got your back. You and Erik Mona have done a great job breathing fresh life into Dungeon. Keep it up!


Edit: On subscriptions, I had some trouble with mine a couple of months ago and missed issues of Dungeon and Dragon. Paizo was nice enough to send replacements, and the recent issues have arrived on time. I absolutely can't fault Paizo's customer service (frankly, I blame USPS, and suspect a SNAFU somewhere in the mail routing).

 

[Alzrius]

Yeah what's the deal with that? How'd ya get December's issue already? You have "connections" don't you?

Yes.

Yes I do.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

One more thought ... a follow-up, web-enhancement, or other product that expands Tamoachan would be really cool ...

 

[James Jacobs]

It would have certainly been awesome to include an actual map of the ruined city of Tamoachan and lots more encounter areas, but alas, there simply wasn't enough room in the adventure to do much more than a relatively short side-trip.

Tamoachan's one of my personal favorites, though. I did try to do a 3rd-edition update of the original adventure last year for my Saturday group, but they caught up to me before I could get too far. Turns out, half-fiend advanced ahuizotls are pretty rough customers, by the way...

 

[BroccoliRage]

I still haven't recieved my first Dungeon, and I'm getting a little iritated. I'm glad I checked the "Bill Me" box, because Paizo isn't going to see a dime till the first issue arrives. I've been screwed on subscriptions in the past, so I tend to distrust most things that involve me sending money in the mail and relying on articles to arrive.

I sent the subscription out before the Savage Tide was even availible in stores, and it looks like I've missed a good chunk of it. After buying the entire Age of Worms each month, I decided to subscribe when a new campaign arc was being prepared. I'm really dissappointed that my first issue hasn't arrived, though Paizo sent me an email telling me they recieved my order.

I noticed some other folks seem to have the same problem, and I was wondering if the problem originates with Paizo or the Post Office. I'm not trying to attack you, James, or Paizo. I'll let you know if I don't recieve my issue this week. I'm dissappointed that I missed the Savage Tide, though. I hope to catch the entire next campaign arc, though.

 

[James Jacobs]

If anyone's having troubles getting issues, don't hesitate. Drop us a line at customer.service@paizo.com, or make a post over on our mesageboards in the customer service area. Our CS department's pretty good about getting problems like these taken care of and fixed.

 

[MarkB]

Gripes:

- I don't understand what "Armor Class -3" means in 3E terms (page 21). A negative AC? Really? I'm having 1E flashbacks. I assume that's treated normally and is just a really bad AC ... but I've never seen a negative number in 3E that I can recall.

I don't have the issue yet, but I'm guessing this is the AC of the Sea Wyvern or a similar vessel?

Most large vessels have negative ACs, and it really is just a "really bad AC".

Bear in mind that a medium inanimate object has an AC of 5 (base 10, -5 for zero dexterity), then factor in the -8 size-category modifier, and a Colossal vessel such as a caravel has an AC of -3. Basically, it's as easy to hit as the broad side of a very large barn.

There are rules for hitting vessels more precisely in some supplements, noteably Stormwrack, which divides ships into individual 10X10X10ft. hull sections, each with their own hit-point pool and typical ACs of about 3. I don't know whether the Savage Tide adventures will make use of such a system, but I'm intending to implement it for any naval combats that occur during the adventure path.