*shrug* I was just thinking back to the first printing of Arsenal, and how many typos it had. If they can't afford to hire a professional editor, It might help them to get more eyes on the product to spot check it.

they don't *have* to listen to anyone, but in genral, more people playtesting something means more opportunities to find and correct loopholes and exploits.

A closed play test is good. The testing pool is small, the results better tallied, and you can be very open and honest about what your design goals and aims are.

An open play test is two things - a marketing scheme and a PR stunt. It's very often used as a way to make players feel attached to a game ("I helped build this!") and a way to make people think you're listening without really doig any work.

Call me cynical - it's cool. But I've watched three happen so far (Pathfinder, D&D Next, and Edge of the Empire) and only one worked out sort of to the degree it was supposed to (Edge). That's because it was hard to get and was done in a very limited fashion: small print run and the only communication was through their forums.

Pathfinder and Next have been shining examples of what happens when you let the inmates feel like they're running the asylum while you fleece them for what they got.

So no. I would stay as far away from a "play test" as possible.

I've liked the material that has resulted from paizo's play tests so I'd have to say they were a success.

Some of it is good. Other bits, like Alchemists and Gunslingers, have serious mechanical and setting issues that make them interact terribly with the rest of the game.

Meh only in your warped world. We've had zero problems with gunslingers and alchemists.

It's no different than all the ninja/samurai/oriental anything only nowhere near as broken.

Gunslingers are mechanically inferior, but alchemists are fine.

Actually a Dual Wielding Revolver Gunslinger geared with free reloads & fast loaders can whip out several attacks/round nearly equal to most Archer builds. so far from inferior.

Except:
a) you're assuming that advanced firearms are allowed, which usually aren't. In the majority of games, it's early firearms only.
b) even with revolvers, you're still not getting your strength modifier on damage rolls. 1d8 vs 1d8+str mod is a world of difference. Also, 2x 4000gp will consume a large chunk of your wealth by level. Also, their range (20ft) is pathetic.
c) firearms suffer from inane misfire rules, further gimping them compared to other weapons.

Whoever designed that game had a serious hard on for bows, and nearly all other ranged options are drastically inferior.

Tee hee. Magic.

Doesn't work... all pepperbox type guns are effectively 2 handed weapons, because you need a hand free to rotate the pepperbox.

All gun reload actions are two handed actions.

I'm twice (or 3x) as likely to misfire as crit... yes 1 in 10 shots results in misfire with normal loads.. 1 in 7 with fast loads.

This is based on a VERY questionable reading of that wierd lanyard thing... dropping one gun and somehow picking it back up..... in which case, you've now got the problem of reloading as a free action with a second weapon dangling uncontrollably off our off hand.... as well as a questionable reading of quickdraw (free action to draw a READIED weapon... such as from a holster where it's designed to be quickdrawn... not from anywhere such as dangling on a cord from your wrist).

It's not much different than making the argument I'm two weapon fighting by firing the gun in one hand, using a free action to switch it to the off hand... then firing again. Which other people similarly would not allow to fly.

Really would you allow an archer to dangle one bow off one arm (or fast switch hands)... and pull off a 'two-weapon' for an extra attack on all the rest?



And while you can pull off nearly as many attacks as an archer... the archer has a significant range advantage as well as a manyshot feat which you can't match. Also to be hitting touch you need to generally be under 20'... your pistols type is going to have to be close enough to get involved in melee (and ALL ranged attacks even ranged touch spells draw AoO in pathfinder. Rules state that quite clearly... mage draws *two* AoO for casting a ranged touch in melee... one for casting... the other for the ranged attack... casting defensively can stop the first).

At the end of the day the gunslinger is nothing more than a specialized fighter... armor master is replaced with a dodge bonus... and weapon mastery simply focused on an individual gun type. That and they trade grit class feature for half their fighter feats.

My own gunslinger spends more time with a longsword and buckler than his pistol! (crafted a MW buckler gun, double barrel only 10' range and a 1d6 though). His next goal is to craft a MW pepperbox pistol though.. yes.

I am running a musket master in the official Pathfinder Society campaign.

At levels 1-4, gunslingers suck.

At 5, they suddenly blossom into murder-death-kill machines. This gets more and more broken until around level 10 to 12 when the other damage classes start to catch up.

Mostly because I can just take every -hit/+damage feat and ability there is, because I am targeting Touch AC and will hit most of the time anyway even with massive to-hit penalties. And a Distance musket means I can usually always be in my first range increment.

But I suspect this is getting far off topic, so I'll end it with that.



-k

Drop the Pathfinder content.

While we're on blog entries: want to speculate over this one? If it's to be taken literally, there's a major metaplot and universe change coming.

Well, that sucks. I really enjoyed working with Scott....

Never heard of him. Who is/was he?

Ghosthacks, woohoo. Is Frank Trollman writing for them again? That was the major change in his new Matrix rules, as far as I remember.


One of the current freelancer pool. He wrote, among others, parts of Clutch of Dragons, though I do not know which.

Wait, what?! Now, I'm not his attorney or anything, but Frank Trollman is definitely not writing anything for Catalyst, nor has he been, since even before the whole Colemangate-meltdown.

Scott, not Frank.

Somebody over at sr4.com also deciphered a tweet, basically "resistance is futile, you will be overwritten"

Edit: Here you go

Brain hacks over the Matrix is a catastrophic event worse than Horrors. And it's taking the universe deeper into transhumanism than even Eclipse Phase ventured.
Just great.

I'm not really hot for this either, though technically, that's a logical consequence of psychotropic software. Not that I'm looking much forward to this, especially considering Clutch of Dragons and GeMiTo.

Yeah not into brainhacks at all... major... can't stress it enough.. MAJOR turnoff.

Really whoever wrote the psychotropic entry in unwired needs to be shot for having no concept of good play. Really hit a guy and he automatically gets some of the most crippling negative qualities in the game... permanently. (temporary is only a sidebar suggestion... the actual rules are brutal). Add this to one of my things I would not shed one tear if it went away or got nerfed heavily just like grounding did to mages. Then not realize that TM's can thread this on the fly as a program option.. while they and only they get defenses/immunity from it.


Extended captivity and such brainwashing a guy... sure... especilly if tech advances enough that ultraviolet nodes are more common. But brainhacks... no.

Definitely one of Frank's worse ideas. And if this Scott person took up that torch... good riddance.

Brainhacking is possible in Eclipse Phase iirc.

Body Snatchers from Outer Space have been around for some time, by itself a new kind that is not a great upheaval. The impact would depend on how common this thread is, and how much effort it takes to brainhack somebody. For all we know, it could be a unique entity and the procedure could involve putting the victim in a vat for a month...

Yeah, but not over the network. You have to plug into a synthmorph's access jacks, or have a biomorph placed into the ego-writing machine. You need physical access to the body, simply put.

You mean Shedim? The big difference is that they are still actual entities that need to be present near your body to snatch it, while Matrix is omnipresent.

For all we know, it could be just a good old psychosis....