Open Call

Greetings,

The Wizards here at The Flying Pincushion have moved into the world of publishing under the umbrella of d20srd. Check our product page for what we're up to in the publishing world. With a level of success comes the need to transition writers to all sorts of projects, in short we need...


More writers who can produce...



-Articles that can include some crunch work related to a literary theme, contact me for the themes list.


-Encounter and setting design work, 1,500 words or less CR4 or lower, must be in a ruins environment.

-Class related crunch work in line with out Into the Breach series see below


     *Archetypes: presently interested in the non core base classes with the exception of summoner, magus and oracle.

     *Spells: I will intentionally leave this open ended for those who have a harder time with restrictions 500 word limit.

     *Prestige Classes : 1,500 words or less, designed to blend well with the non-core base classes would be impressive.

     *Monsters: I run new monsters every monday, and there's talk of us doing a monster book down the road. Mythic like our current contributor Andrew Hoskins would be welcome. 1,500 words or less.

     *Items: 750 word limit, try to theme them off of a class, or animal companions.


Blog work is your proving ground, rates are industry standard typically 1 cent per word for printed work only.

Artists.

     *1/2 page pencils or color

     *full page with backgrounds

     *character portraits

     *logos

     *Stock art

Payment is negotiable we are likely not going to be ready to pay artists until a product has had a 30 day cycle (when we get paid.)

Reviewers.
-Must be willing to adhere to the Recession Review format.

-Likely a pdf copy might be payment though that is not always the case typically these are a labor of love.

All submissions should be sent to frank.gori@gmail.com AND featherwitharrows@gmail.com

Jeff Crunch: Poe Themed Items

by Jeff Harris




Heart of Truth Telling
Aura moderate enchantment and divination; CL 7th
Slot special; Price 10,000; Weight 1 lb.
===== Description =====
A heart of truth telling is just that, a humanoid heart.  It appears to be newly removed from its owner, but there are no traces of blood.  A willing subject must allow their heart to be removed in order to create a heart of truth telling.  In order to use the heart correctly however, you must be willing to let the heart of truth telling take the place of your own heart.  This process does you no harm, and the process may be reversed.  However once you have used a heart of truth telling and then later removed it, you may never use one again.

The heart of truth telling has several powers that are available to you once you have replaced your own heart.  First the heart radiates a constant zone of truth that functions in all ways like the spell of the same name; however the heart does not prevent you from telling falsehoods. The will save to resist this effect is DC 12 + your wisdom modifier.  Each person entering the area of affect must make this save; if successful they cannot be affected by the heart again for 24 hours.  Also the heart of truth telling is capable of casting the discern lies and early judgment spells three times a day each.  These also function in all ways like the spells of the same name.  Using either of these powers is are standard actions, however you may willingly take two points of temporary constitution damage and use either as a swift action. 

There is however a cost to using a heart of truth telling, as when you knowingly lie the heart responds negatively which damages your constitution score by one point for 24 hours.  This effect is cumulative with each additional lie.  A DC 25 fortitude save is needed to avoid this affect each time you lie while using a heart of truth telling.
===== Construction =====
Requirements craft wondrous item, gentle repose, early judgment, discern falsehoods, zone of truth; the heart of a lawful good or lawful neutral willing subject Cost 5000 gp


 


Quill of True Terror
Aura strong necromancy; CL 7th
Slot slot-less; Price 14,000; Weight - lb.
===== Description =====
A quill of true terror appears to be in fact quite harmless, as it is a quill ink pen made from a large raven feather.  However the quill of true terror radiates strong necromantic magic, and is a potent weapon if you are willing to use it.

The quill of true terror gives you the ability to cast the cause fear and scare spells three times a day each and the fear spell once per day.  The quill also has a more powerful and more dangerous ability you may call upon.  Once per week you may use the quill of true terror to enact a powerful curse on another person by writing down the effects of the curse with the quill.  This functions as the bestow curse spell, and has the same limits and flexibility save that if the target destroys the document of their curse, the effect immediately ends.  This effect may also be removed with the remove curse spell.  The creation (writing) of the curse affect of the quill is a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. 

There is however a price you pay for changing the fates of others with a quill of true terror.  Each time you use the quill’s curse power there is a 2% cumulative chance that all the fear and anguish the quill controls affects you.  This takes the form of either temporary insanity or the summoning of an invisible stalker that hunts you tirelessly.  Insanity takes the form of the confusion spell effect and lasts for 24 hours.  The summoned invisible stalker is a standard CR 7 creature and should be presented as written including using it’s invisibility to best affect.  There is an equal chance of either effect occurring.  The GM should keep a secret tally of this percentage and roll for the player each time the quill is used.  Unless great care is taken in identifying the quill the wielder should be unaware of this draw back.
===== Construction =====
Requirements craft wondrous item, bestow curse, cause fear, fear, scare; Cost 7,000 gp                                                                                                          

 

Mishelved: Poe

Mishelved: The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe

By Frank Gori

 

Everyone that writes or GMs a game draws inspiration from somewhere. The giants in fantasy fiction are of course Tolkien and Gygax but if you want to have a classic flavor without treading on overly familiar ground we at The Flying Pincushion truly believe that some of the most fertile ground are those works that were presented before you in high school English class and college lit courses.

Edgar Allen Poe has been an inspiration for others before me. If there’s a thing to draw in particular as a GM it’s his ability to create anticipation. Much of the horror a character feels in a Poe tale is internalized. Often the question of a supernatural element is left to the reader, Poe loves the unreliable narrator.

How do we translate that to a game?

-Innocent bi-standers: dead is good, to terrified to communicate effectively is much better.

-Intensify scene description: before a big scene try writing out interesting elements and practice your delivery before game so it comes out smooth.

-Atmospheric props: a DM screen is good but maybe add some cloth to soften the sound of your rolls, you never know what a distraction it is until its gone, try adjusting the lighting for certain scenes, and light music in the background always helps.

-Reskin the descriptions of familiar monsters: you’d be amazed how much scarier a Troll can be when you reshape it into a large cat ridden by a reskinned redcap that sounds like a vampire variant. When monsters become too easy to identify they get robbed of some of their power.

-Terrain: a swarm is a run of the mill encounter, having a witch vomit a swarm on you after you’ve fallen into a pit trap is the kind of encounter people remember.

-Use called shots: want to make a monster with a bite attack scarier? Make repeated mention its targeting a Pc’s throat. If it lands a crit don’t mention it’s a crit say it lands a bit on your throat and rips a chunk out for (double) x damage.

-Wear them down: Numbers and attrition can force a party into desperate measures. Sure that 8^th level party feels like a bunch of heroes killing a hundred goblins but what about a thousand? What if they keep coming even as they die and they got the party in a cabin on a mountain? Night falls and a number of the dead get back up? I’m betting the party starts to get a little more frightened then.

-Templates: Let a PC think they know what they are up against, but with the variety of templates out there you can still throw some curveballs.

-Non-events: The party is asleep except for one character on watch when suddenly a screaming sound fills the air. Everyone is roused and ready to battle only to find it was just a rabbit getting killed by an owl. Rinse and repeat from time to time and you’ll eventually get them with a real encounter.

Going Gonzo With John: Its a Trap!

by John Belliston
and Frank Gori

 

 

Within the world of Poe there are many places where wondrous horror can be distilled onto the game table. Madness, monsters, terrible plots, and compelling villains.  But there is a shining jewel which I snapped up when given the opportunity.

The Pit and the Pendulum.

I mean what isn’t there to like? Inquisitors? Horrifying traps that test the limits of human sanity?

Yes. Let’s do that.

 

The Pit:

CR:14

Type: Magical

Perception DC:26

Disable Device: 35

Trigger: Location

Reset:

Effect: 40ft deep pit (4d6 falling damage, DC 30 Reflex save avoids). Black Tentacles trigger after the targets hit the ground (CMB +20 to grapple targets). At this point a Large Bladed Pendulum (Atk +20 4d6 Slashing) slowly descends from the ceiling. Each target makes a DC 30 Will save or be effected by a Slow spell (CL 13). Those effected suddenly perceive the amount of time spent in the pit as being hours not rounds. If they fail by more than five they perceive it as days. Even after escaping the scars of the time spent there linger. Each survivor of the trap is fatigued for 2d4 days. This is a curse effect.

 

 

This kind of Trap is most effective when you have villains to back it up. Want to make an often ridiculed weapon from previous editions terrifying? have a group of Inquisitors with  man-catchers use CMBs to push the PCs that save back into the Pit.

Add another level of terror by making the pit reset manual and when it closes it closes off light so all those without darkvision get is the audible sound of a sharp blade scything through the air seeming to creep closer and closer.

Perhaps later the Pcs discover the previous victims of the trap as flesh golems. The best parts of each scything victim reassembed into yet another horror for them to face.

Monster Mondays: The Gold-Bug

Monster Mondays: The Gold-Bug           

By Frank Gori

Edgar Allen Poe was one of the first authors to pique my interest in literature. The dark tales that built tension and straddled the line between supernatural occurrence and the fragility of human psyche was a lure I couldn’t resist as an impressionable youth.

Today’s monster is from one of his lesser known tales The Gold-Bug which tells a tale of a man who becomes obsessed with treasure after being bitten by a golden colored scarab. The idea of poison imprinting a location with treasure in cryptology is interesting to work with.

 

 

Gold Scarab Beetle CR 6 XP 2,400 N Large vermin Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0 DEFENSE AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 19 (+1 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size) hp 67 (9d8+27) Fort +9, Ref +4, Will +3 Immune acid, disease, mind-affecting effects, paralysis OFFENSE Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 20 ft. (average) Melee bite +10 (1d8+8 plus poison) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. STATISTICS Str 21, Dex 12, Con 16, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 1 Base Atk +6; CMB +13; CMD 24 (32 vs. trip) Skills Climb +14, Fly –1 SPECIAL ABILITIES Poison (Su) A scarab beetle injects a strange poison on its bite. The initial effect is 1d4 wisdom damage Fort DC 19. The secondary effect has an onset is 1D4 days after any successful bite attack, victim will be given a dream like vision of treasure with clues to where it may be located. The clues can be interpreted with a successful knowledge local check of 15 or better and will actually lead victims to a location which is always the location of a giant fly trap The Fort save halves the wisdom damage and negates the hallucinary effect. Those having the vision are not compelled to act on it but it often seems to be divinely inspired and should be presented as such.

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate swamps
Organization solitary or swarm (3–9)
Treasure none

These massive beetles share meals with giant fly traps which provide shelter and partly digest the food. The beetles are immune to acid and can hold their breath with a self contained air bubble for days at a time.

Recession Reviews: Kobold Press Round up

by Frank Gori

 

Times are hard and while a gaming book beats any trip to the theatre, our loved ones don’t always see it that way. When you can spare the money what products deserve your hard earned gaming dollars? Who balances enough crunch with the fluff to allow the frugal GM to recycle, after all the best games are the ones you can play over and over again without losing interest.

Normally we’ll not being doing half an AP all at once, and any who wish to review something in this format should email me a request at frank.gori@gmail.com

Trapster :

Written by: Maurice De Mare

Page count: 70 counting the inside covers

Throw Away pages: 7 (covers, credits, ogl page, 2^nd index)

Golden Pages: 46! (reusable npcs, spells, reusable maps, monsters, new items)

Cover price: $9.99 (pdf version)

Price per page: $0.14

Modified price per page: $0.09 = Cover price/pages + golden pages – throw away pages= modified price per page

Crunch to Fluff Ratio: 9 to 1

Our Rating out of 10: 9.5- extremely reusable

Description (minor spoilers): Maurice deserves the Title of Trapmaster. His trap designs shows a mastery of traps that is enviable and he willingly passes on that mastery of traps to anyone willing to pay the price of entry. This isn’t just a books of traps (which would totally be worth purchasing) its also a how to one trap design (which is why this is near perfect.)

Slight quibbles come from the unfortunate fact that I’ve seen 12 pages of this material before for free by being a regular blog reader. I’m also never a fan of the double index give me it by CR I fon’t need alphabetical as well.

Overall I think the goal was to make a GM excited and interested in using Traps again and to arm that GM with a new bag of tricks this succeeds in that with flying colors.

 

Tales of the Old Margreve :

Written by: Tim and Eileen Conners (lead designers)

Page count: 113 counting the inside covers

Throw Away pages: 6 (covers, forward, ogl page, ad)

Golden Pages: 14

Cover price: $9.99 (pdf)

Price per page: $0.08

Modified price per page: $0.08 = Cover price/pages + golden pages – throw away pages= modified price per page

Crunch to Fluff Ratio: 18 to 1

Our Rating out of 10: 9- valuable

Description: On the surface this is 8 adventures without direct linear correlation sharing only a setting. Seen in this manner the content might not seem to justify the rating, but here’s where I tell you the real value of this product is that it teaches you to generate an atmosphere and theme of dark fairytales.

The adventures range from outstanding to run of the mill, however in the context of a campaign where the forest is massive and alive they become something more sinister. They create a vibe you typically only get from a good old fashioned horror story, you get a vibe that whatever lurks off camera is where the real terror lies.

This is one of my favorite products from any publisher.

Midgard Beatiary :

Written by: Adam Daigle

Page count: 109 counting the inside covers

Throw Away pages: 6(covers, forward, title pages)

Golden Pages: 103

Cover price: $9.99 (pdf only)

Price per page: $0.9

Modified price per page: $0.6 = Cover price/pages + golden pages – throw away pages= modified price per page

Crunch to Fluff Ratio: 13 to 1

Our Rating out of 10: 8.5- quite useful

Description: Counting the reskinned monsters you have over 100 new baddie beasts to throw at your PCs. I warn if you buy allot of Kobold Press stuff many of these monsters will be in other things you own (like tales of the old margrave.) It is still worth having them all in one place however.

Some of these monsters will never see use out of personal taste like any beastiary you’re going to end up with favorites and go to monsters.

 

Overall: Kobold Press is one of the 3PPs I’d extend trust to. What makes them successful is a business model that puts allot of eyes on a product before it ever gets released. There’s a theme of older school gaming but with modern and typically innovative twists. You will find a range of products that vary largely by contributing designers.

3PP rating- 8.5

The power levels of the GM based crunch work in Kobold Press’ printed work is right in line with Paizo’s. They aren’t stingy on artwork or layout though the writing can be a mixed bag. The vast majority is superb and would be above and beyond Paizo standards, a small minority of it is frankly slightly weaker and more obvious when compared to the other work Kobold press does.

Though I did not review player based content here, I have read and own some and that’s where KP stumbles slightly in my eyes. To be fair the player content is actually underpowered in my eyes and if a player really wanted to play the kobold version of a Shaman or Elven Archer or anything else I’ve seen for them I’d allow it. I’d also expect that player to underperform slightly and possibly make adjustments based on that person’s role in the party.

Another thing worth mentioning is that I haven’t purchased more recent player focused material like White Necromancy and what not, I’m basing this opinion on material that is a bit dated.

I highly trust them for GM related material, for player related content its never overpowered but I do think twice and wait for sales.

see notes below

 

The 3PP Bias, the Free Bias, Contributor Bias and the Crunch Bias

If you’re paying attention to these reviews you might have noticed something, these reviews will certainly favor 3PPs based on pricing alone. If a product is free or 100% crunch it will also heavily bias the review. In an effort to curtail this I’m taking the following measures:

-3pp Ratings This is an overall assessment of how the company’s products stack up in quality to Paizo’s or WOTC’s. What factors in are generally power rating being in line with standards like CR, layout, art quality, quality of writing, and editorial decisions.

Treat all Paizo and WOTC products as being a 10 or 1.0 multiplier. For 3PPs move the decimal 1 place to the left and multiply the ratings and prices by that to remove the 3PP bias. Below I’m adding my 3PP ratings for companies I’ve reviewed previously.

Raging Swan- 8 They are amazing at layout and underwhelming in art. The writing quality is very, very good and the crunch is meticulously on point. They do not spend money on artwork and it shows. I personally appreciate the savings but for the purpose of the bias standard their products wouldn’t draw the eye candy Paizo’s do.

As I've stated previously I'd trust their products and be more inclined to purchase because fo their brand.

Open Gaming Monthly OGM’s contributors are not paid and it shows. The writing varies widely from absolutely excellent to head scathingly poor, and the same goes for the art. The editing occasionally misses obvious typos and grammatical errors as well as crunch errors. Layout is fairly straightforward and solid but overall I’d never use at least ½ of their crunch every month. You’re still paying very little for it and its entertaining regardless of what you use but I’d place it a little above wayfinder which is a free publication. I will also note that OGM 5 was miles better then OGM 1.

Overall its so cheap and they love to bundle other goodies with it so its worth the price of admission anyway.

-Contributer Refrain I have absolutely no bias in judging the work of companies I contribute to as a freelancer, I will however refrain from reviewing any work that is my own.

-Dollar for 10 page for free products I’ll add a cost of $1 for every 10 pages for your downloading and reading time. This should address the free bias.

A short respite

Greetings loyal reader,

The wizards at The Flying Pincushion are taking a short respite but will return tomorrow with an updated Open Call that will include a more comprehansive set of guidelines. There will also be reviews on Friday.

We return to literary themed content next monday.

Keep it Classy,
Frank Gori